With US captain Keegan Bradley set to announce his six captain’s picks for next month’s Ryder Cup in the early hours of Thursday morning AEST, the 39-year-old will play the role of heartbreaker rather than heartbroken in the coming days.

Bradley told the Golf Channel following Tommy Fleetwood’s heartwarming triumph at the Tour Championship, that he dreaded having to make the “awful” phone calls to tell players that had not been chosen to represent their country in the biennial event.

Bradley knows what it is like better than anyone to receive such disappointing news.

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Ahead of the last Ryder Cup in Rome two years ago, Netflix documentary Full Swing captured the moment Bradley was told by then captain Zach Johnson that he would not be on the 12-person team despite finishing 11th in the qualifying rankings.

Now, Bradley will experience role reversal, where he will crush the dreams of several contenders for a captain’s pick.

And he may be telling them that he will be teeing up at Bethpage Black in New York instead of them.

“There is probably going to be a few guys that think they are going to be on the team that aren’t going to be,” Bradley told Golf Channel.

With Scottie Scheffler, JJ Spaun, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, Harris English and Bryson DeChambeau locking up the six automatic places, a host of big names are vying for the remaining spots on the team.

It would be a shock if Justin Thomas and Collin Morikawa were left out given they finished seventh and eighth in the qualifying standings, and are both two-time major winners with Ryder Cup pedigree.

It is the other four spots where things get interesting.

Ben Griffin, Maverick McNealy, Bradley and Brian Harman rounded out the top 12 in the qualifying rankings, while Cameron Young and Patrick Cantlay would be the form picks given their efforts throughout the FedEx Cup playoffs.

Clearly, the most fascinating choice centres upon Bradley himself.

ATLANTA, GEORGIA – AUGUST 24: Keegan Bradley of the United States lines up a putt on the 18th green during the final round of the TOUR Championship 2025 at East Lake Golf Club on August 24, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Jared C. Tilton / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)Source: AFP

“This is a whole ‘nother animal. I have no clue. This is going to be really difficult,” he said.

“I think no matter what decision that I make here, I could have gone the other way easily, no matter what. The only thing I care about is on Sunday of the Ryder Cup, that we win the Ryder Cup.

“Then I’ll know I made the right decision. Until then, I won’t know.

“It’s going to be pretty wild. Whatever decision we make, we’re going to have to live with it.”

There has not been a playing captain in the Ryder Cup for more than 60 years, even though Tiger Woods did the dual roles at the 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne

He is ranked 11th in the world off the back of winning the Travelers Championship in June among six top ten finishes on the PGA Tour this season.

There were concerns about Bradley’s form dropping off after his victory in Connecticut, but he alleviated those with a tied 17th at the BMW Championship before coming tied seventh at the Tour Championship.

With those results against his name, Bradley may be telling some of the contenders that he is playing and they will have to stay at home.

“It has been a wild year,” Bradley said. “It’s difficult because I want to put the team in the best position to win the Ryder Cup. So there’s sort of an unknown — Arnold Palmer did it in 1963, but it’s a totally different tournament now.

“It’s just a heavy decision. All the picks are tough. Captain is going to be judged on who they pick. Pretty strange thing to pick yourself.

“It’s something that I’ve been thinking about for a long time and I just want to make sure we make the right one.”

ATLANTA, GEORGIA – AUGUST 24: Keegan Bradley of the United States and Russell Henley of the United States walks on the 18th green during the final round of the TOUR Championship 2025 at East Lake Golf Club on August 24, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Jared C. Tilton / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)Source: AFP

Bradley played on losing US teams in 2012 and 2014, and said that his playing resurgence has certainly made things “a little harder”.

“It’s a really strange thing to kind of ponder making the picks and then thinking about picking yourself. It’s ridiculous. It doesn’t seem like reality sometimes,” he added.

“But we’re going to do the best we can to make the right decision and it’s going to be controversial to certain people either way. I’m prepared for that.

“I’m confident whichever decision I make, it’s for the betterment of the team, and we’ll see.

“Ultimately I have to protect the team. I have to do the right thing by the team. Whatever the best decision is, we’re going to make it.”

Bradley has the backing of several big names if he were to opt to play.

Cantlay and Rickie Fowler, who both featured in Rome two years ago, have both said that they would pick Bradley if they were captain.

Renowned golf reporter Dan Rapaport took to social media to issue an impassioned plea for Bradley to choose himself and even US President Donald Trump said Bradley should be picking himself.

He may have been trying to play mind games, but Rory McIlroy said recently that he does not believe someone can effectively play and captain.

“There’s a lot of different things that go into it, and that’s why I think, look, it’s just my opinion, but I think it would just be very difficult to do,” McIlroy said.

Bradley may yet take McIlroy’s advice, but it is the words of Arnold Palmer that he wishes could help guide his decision.

“I wish he was alive and I could call him,” Bradley said. “If I had one thing I wish I could call Arnold and talk to him because I think he’d have some great advice for me.”

Aside from himself, Bradley seemingly has a lot harder choices than his European counterpart Luke Donald.

The trophy holders are likely to make just one change from the dozen who triumphed in Rome with Rasmus Hojgaard earning an automatic place, and is set to take the place of his brother Nicolai on the team.

McIlroy, Robert MacIntyre, Fleetwood, Justin Rose and Tyrell Hatton earned the other automatic places, while Shane Lowry, Sepp Straka, Ludvig Aberg, Viktor Hovland and Matt Fitzpatrick finished seventh to 11th in the qualifying standings.

It would be a surprise if those five along with LIV star Jon Rahm are not selected by Donald.

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The US team is nowhere near as clear cut, however.

Social media have been flooded with rumours in recent days from Sam Burns, who came 16th in the qualifying standings, being already told he is on the team to Bradley being set to pair Harman and Cantlay together to frustrate the Europeans with their infamously slow play.

Bradley saying “it’s going to be pretty wild” could also be an indication of some left field selections based on recent form.

Jordan Spieth finished 32nd in qualifying after a poor two years, but could be a surprise selection if Bradley values his good record playing alongside close friend Justin Thomas.

Bradley could also spring a surprise from the LIV contingent.

Brooks Koepka, who played in Rome, is seemingly out of the frame after missing the cut at three of four majors this year, but Bradley could look at his five major victories as a reason to back him in.

Patrick Reed is another who is on the outer, but earned the nickname ‘Captain America’ for his exploits representing his country, and did finish third at The Masters this year.

It remains to be seen who Bradley’s six picks will be, but whoever they are, they will have been fascinating decisions.