Keegan Bradley claims Tiger Woods & Phil Mickelson care the most about the Ryder Cup, calling out American stereotype

The Presidents Cup - Round One - Source: GettyTiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Keegan Bradley, 2013 Presidents Cup (Image via Getty)

Since being announced as captain of the U.S. team for the 2025 Ryder Cup, Keegan Bradley has been speaking out on a variety of topics related to the event. As of Thursday, August 8, the list of topics includes the passion that Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods feel for the biennial event.

Keegan Bradley was a guest on the latest edition of the Fore Play Podcast, where he discussed a variety of Ryder Cup-related topics. When discussing how much it means for the American players to wear their country’s colors, Bradley used both Woods and Mickelson as examples.

Here is what Keegan Bradley had to say:

“Americans always get this, that they don’t care about… you know, that they don’t care as much, and it’s such BS, like, when I was on these teams, I had always heard that Phil [Mickelson] and Tiger [Woods] you know, that they don’t care about the Ryder Cup.”

He added:

“I have never seen two people in all of my years on any teams, care about the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup more than Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, especially Tiger.” [44:24 – 44:46]

Both Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods have a long history of participating in the Ryder Cup. Mickelson has been part of 12 American teams at the event, winning three times. Woods, on the other hand, has played in eight editions with one victory.

Both have also made their mark on the Presidents Cup, with Mickelson appearing 12 times (10 wins) and Woods appearing nine times (seven wins, one tie).

Other issues raised by Keegan Bradley

Keegan Bradley touched on several issues surrounding the Ryder Cup. The first was to confirm that he is interested in including the top 12 American players, regardless of which tour they play on.

Bradley did not provide details on how he plans to quantify the performance of the LIV Golf players, but he did confirm that he does not plan to change the current system for determining the Ryder Cup team. That system does not award points for LIV events.

However, Bradley would retain the ability to freely select half of the team, giving him the option of pick players from LIV Golf should he deem them to be deserving.

Bradley explained that his decision to keep the system in place was based on the current uncertainty between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour:

“Next year at this time, who knows what we’re looking at here in terms of LIV and the PGA Tour,” Bradley said.

Bradley also praised the venue where the event will be held (Bethpage Black, New York), saying it “looks great.” The U.S. captain said New York fans are the most enthusiastic in the country and he expects the event to be one of the greatest ever.