Has Keegan Bradley signed the Ryder Cup captain’s deal?

Keegan Bradley has yet to sign the Ryder Cup captaincy agreement. The 39-year-old, who was announced as the new US Team skipper earlier this year, has now revealed that he does not have his name in ink yet with the PGA of America. The revelation was made after a reporter raised it as a question after the second round at Royal Portrush.

Bradley dubbed the question on his Ryder Cup captaincy deal ‘strange.’ However, he took up the remaining question and said that he was “working on the captain's agreement.” Notably, the response came after a brief pause during the questionnaire. Despite this, the 8x PGA Tour winner further revealed that he was already ‘very close’ to determining the order of play at the Bethpage Black event.

For the unversed, Bradley, who sits ninth in the Ryder Cup player points ranking, is in contention for the top six automatic player spot.

Here is how Keegan Bradley’s puzzling exchange with a reporter went in The Open tournament's press conference:

“Q. Have you signed a captain's agreement? Keegan Bradley: That's a strange question. Why? Q. Well, because if, in fact, you became a playing captain, I would think that you'd want to have the agreement to have certain things in it that maybe it wouldn't have if you weren't playing captain. Bradley: We're working on the captain's agreement. Q. Have you determined the order of play yet? Bradley: Not yet, but we're very close. The home team usually plays a certain way. You can look it up. We're very close to signing the captain's agreement and getting the course of play set.”

---

Keegan Bradley on the possibility of playing the Ryder Cup?

Keegan Bradley shot a bogey-free 4-under 67 at Royal Portrush Golf Club on Friday to comfortably make the cut at The Open. Notably, this is the first time he made the British major’s cut since 2018. With this, the reigning Travelers Championship winner added fuel to the conversations around him being a playing captain at the Ryder Cup.

However, the World No. 7 golfer admits being confused about picking himself as a player for Bethpage. Replying to a media query, the 2024 BMW Championship champion said that he gets the question ‘10 times a day’ and he ‘don't really have an answer.’

Keegan Bradley said, as quoted by ASAP Sports:

“Nothing about picking whoever it is going to be easy, but if I get to that position and I feel like I'm going to help the team, then I'll consider playing. But I really get asked that question 10 times a day, and I don't really have an answer… I just want to put the best team on the course at Bethpage.”

The American team skipper said that he’ll obviously wait until the time to pick the final squad to make a decision. The golfer said he’d pick a different player in his spot if they were in better form. It is pertinent to note that Bradley had earlier completely ruled out the possibility of naming himself a captain’s pick for the international event.

Edited by Vishnu Mohan