Presidents Cup
As prep for Ryder Cup, Keegan Bradley gets assistant captain spot in Presidents Cup
Andy Lyons
Barely more than a day after Keegan Bradley was named captain of the 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup team, Jim Furyk, the current U.S. Presidents Cup captain, decided that he should invite Bradley to join him as an assistant this September at Royal Montreal. On Wednesday, Furyk made it official by announcing that Bradley has accepted the invitation to help the American team at the 15th Presidents Cup.
In a surprise move, the PGA of America on July 8 tapped the 38-year-old Bradley to lead the Americans at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, N.Y., in 14 months time. A two-time Ryder Cup competitor and a member of the 2013 U.S. Presidents Cup team, Bradley has never served as an assistant in the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup.
Furyk, the 2018 Ryder Cup captain in France, told Golf Digest at the Kaulig Companies Championship at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, that the idea of adding Bradley to his staff struck him almost immediately. He phoned Bradley July 15 to congratulate him and offer his assistance for the Ryder Cup. They spoke a second time last Wednesday, and during that phone call Furyk asked Bradley if he would be interested in helping him in Canada. Bradley didn’t hesitate to accept.
“He’s fired up. He’s definitely excited,” Furyk told Golf Digest. “I love the energy, and he brings a lot to the table. I left two spots open, and I sort of had plans how to use them, but with Keegan’s appointment to the Ryder Cup, this felt like something that would benefit both U.S. teams.
“It’s good to have some synergy from year to year, just looking at it from a Team USA perspective as a whole. I think that’s important.”
“I was ecstatic to get the call from Jim and looking forward to doing all I can to help our team in Montreal,” Bradley said in a statement released by the PGA Tour on Wednesday. “With the Ryder Cup on the horizon next year, this will be a great experience for me to understand the other side of the team room and how that camaraderie and coaching helps our guys play their best.”
Stewart Cink, Justin Leonard and Kevin Kisner previously were named by Furyk to be U.S. assistant captains in Canada.
Furyk said that adding Bradley as an assistant captain did not preclude the former PGA champion’s participation as a competitor against the International Team at Royal Montreal Sept. 26-29. Bradley currently is 17th in the U.S. points standings. In his lone Presidents Cup appearance at Muirfield Village Golf Club in 2013, he went 2-2-1. The top six qualify automatically and then Furyk gets six wild-card picks to complete the team.
“It would be a good thing for him, the [Ryder Cup] captain to be an assistant captain and see what goes on from an organizational side of things. He's really never sat on that side of the table,” Furyk said. “Not that I don't want him to make it, qualify for the team, but either way it's a win for him.”
Furyk told Golf Digest that he also would like Tiger Woods to be involved, possibly as the fifth assistant. “I know he’s incredibly busy, but I was always going to see if he’d be available for Montreal,” Furyk said. “I have several options in mind. Obviously, we would love to have him be a part of things.”
The U.S. leads the Presidents Cup series 12-1-1 and has won the last nine after a tie in 2003.