Keegan Bradley spoke fondly of his time with Phil Mickelson in the Ryder Cup but said he doesn’t expect the 12-time participant to be part of his vice-captain lineup next year at Bethpage Black.
But he has no issue with LIV Golf players being part of his team.
Bradley, who Tuesday was introduced as the 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup captain, is close with Brendan Steele, a LIV player who competes on Mickelson’s HyFlyers LIV Golf team.
Mickelson, 54, had long been viewed as the natural choice to be the U.S. Ryder Cup captain at Bethpage, an appointment that was all but inevitable until his fallout with the powers that be over his move to LIV Golf.
Over the past year, Mickelson has said several times that he is fine with how it played out and that he appreciates his time in the Ryder Cup, including a vice-captaincy role for Steve Stricker in 2021.
“I still have a great relationship with Phil,” Bradley said. “I don’t think he’s interested in being a vice captain. To be honest with you, he’s a captain someday. I haven’t spoken to Phil. I don’t want to speak for him at all. I have nothing but great things to say about Phil and what we did in the Ryder Cup.”
Bradley and Mickelson went 3-0 as partners at the 2012 Ryder Cup and 1-1 in 2014. They were also 2-1-1 at the 2013 Presidents Cup.
As for LIV, Bradley quickly dismissed any issues.
“I’m going to have the 12 best players on the team,” he said. “I don’t care where they play. We have a mission to win this tournament. I’m not worried about the LIV stuff. By the time we get to Bethpage in 2025, we have no clue how the layout is going to be.”
