Tiger Woods backed to be next Ryder Cup captain after Keegan Bradley confession

USA captain Keegan Bradley fears he will never "get over" home defeat at Bethpage Black last month, as speculation ramps up over who will captain Team USA in 2027

View 3 Images

Tiger Woods has been installed as the joint favourite to be the next American Ryder Cup captain after Keegan Bradley admitted he will never “get over” his crushing defeat last month. Luke Donald’s Europe became the first away team to ever win the first four sessions before holding on for a 15-13 win.

Speaking publicly for the first time since that defeat, Bradley admitted he was still in a "Ryder Cup fog" and said: "You win, it's glory for a lifetime. You lose, it's 'I'm going to have to sit with this for the rest of my life’.

"There's no part of me that thinks I'll ever get over this. Since the Ryder Cup to now has been one of the toughest times in my life."

World No.14 Bradley was only appointed in July last year after Woods turned down the role in New York - and had considered naming himself as a wildcard. He admitted he set up Bethpage Black wrong and only in the singles did his players perform by winning 8.5 points to threaten a stunning comeback. Shane Lowry secured the vital half point to retain the trophy in the eighth singles match.

Speaking at the Travelers Championship media day, the 2011 US PGA winner said: "You put so much into it, and you have all this planning, and the first two days went as poorly as we could have ever thought. Then we had that amazing rally on Sunday.

"What I've tried to take away is the incredible memories I had with the guys - the times in the locker room and the emotional times we had together."

Bradley, 39, won the Travelers Championship in June and he could have been the first Ryder Cup playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963. "I'll forever wonder and wish that I had a chance to play there," he said. "The first practice day, I was out on the tee, and I was watching the guys walk down the fairway all together, and I said: 'I wish I was playing. That's what it's all about. I'm missing out.'

View 3 Images

"By the second or third day I was like 'It's a good thing I'm not playing,' because I was so physically exhausted. Good thing I didn't do it, because it would have been bad. I just didn't think I could do both jobs."

Bradley lost his two Ryder Cups as a player in 2012 and 2014 and was in front of Netflix Full Swing cameras caught his heartbreak at getting left out of the 2023 team.

"I really would enjoy playing in one more," Bradley admitted. "I don't know if I'll get the chance. "This effing event has been so brutal to me. I don't know if I want to play. No, I do. It's such a weird thing to love something so much that just doesn't give you anything."

Donald showed the advantage of previous captaincy experience - he won in Rome in 2023 - by leading Europe to their first away win since 2012. But bookies immediately pushed his odds from 2-1 to 5-1 to take the job at Adare Manor with Woods and 2018 captain Jim Furyk now joint favourites. Woods is a close friend of Adare Manor owner JP McManus.

View 3 Images

Woods, who turns 50 in December, recently underwent a seventh back operation and has not made a PGA Tour start since the 2023 Open.

William Hill spokesperson Lee Phelps, said: “Speculation for who will captain the USA Ryder Cup team in 2027 has turned up a notch following Keegan Bradley’s recent comments, stating he may never get over the host’s defeat at Bethpage in September. As a result, we’ve pushed Bradley’s odds of being the USA captain out to 5/1, leaving Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk as joint favourites (7/2) to lead their side across to pond to Adare Manor in just under two years’ time.

“The trio of Brandt Snedeker, 2021 captain Steve Stricker and Webb Simpson are 4/1 to assume the position as Bradley’s successor, while Kevin Kisner and Gary Woodland are 5/1 and 6/1 respectively. Davis Love III is further out at 12s, followed by 2023 Ryder Cup captain, Zach Johnson, at 16/1. Corey Pavin rounds out the current candidates at 20/1.”