Keegan Bradley Reveals What He Told Tiger Woods After Naming First Vice Captain Pick

Keegan Bradley named fellow under-40 golfer Webb Simpson as the first vice-captain to join his U.S. Ryder Cup team at Bethpage Black in 2025. 

Prior to this week’s 3M Open, Bradley was asked about another potential vice-captain – Tiger Woods. 

Keegan Bradley wants Tiger Woods ‘as involved as he wants to be’ with 2025 United States Ryder Cup team https://t.co/QHqPcI1HHT pic.twitter.com/F1HhjAUzYE

— Golfweek (@golfweek) July 25, 2024

Bradley said, revealing that the two spoke before last week’s Open Championship at Royal Troon:

“Yeah, I’ve told Tiger that I want him to be as involved as he wants to be. We didn’t — with the British Open going on, we’re not really chatting too much about that. I think in the coming months — we’re still 14 months out here, so we’ve got a long time.”

Woods was offered the captain’s job but turned it down, saying that he couldn’t devote the time to do the job properly for this current cycle, citing ongoing negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and the TGL start-up next January.

“The decision was very difficult for me to make.”

Tiger Woods discusses turning down the 2025 Ryder Cup captaincy before Keegan Bradley was ultimately selected. pic.twitter.com/MlZPUJNbqu

— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) July 16, 2024

Woods said earlier this month:

“I think that this is going to be probably a turnover year for us for the captaincies, whether it’s the captain itself and his vice captains. I think this is the natural progression, one we’ve been looking forward to, and I think it’s that year.”

Also, given that Bradley is a full-time PGA Tour competitor, he said that he would play on the team if he automatically qualifies, but he will not award himself a captain’s pick.

Cover Image via CBS Sports