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Keegan Bradley surprised many on Wednesday when he opted to not make himself one of his captain’s picks. He also made a bit of quirky, unofficial Ryder Cup history in the process.
In a weird way, Bradley can now lay claim to being the American’s biggest Ryder Cup snub two times in a row. The weird part, of course, being that the second time was his decision as the squad’s leader.
It would be hard to argue that Bradley, currently No. 11 in the Official World Golf Ranking, isn’t one of the 12 best U.S. golfers right now. But in the end, he decided focusing on his captain’s duties was the best course for the U.S.
In any event, Bradley won’t be playing at Bethpage Black with his captain’s picks. And it got us thinking: Who are the biggest Ryder Cup snubs? Going back 30 years, here’s our list of the top 13 in chronological order. At least, until Luke Donald makes his picks on Monday.
1. Jim Gallagher Jr. (1995)
David Madison
The current Golf Channel analyst won twice on the PGA Tour in 1995, but was left off of Lanny Wadkins’ squad. On the bright side, Gallagher played on the 1993 squad (as well as the 1994 Presidents Cup team), thus being part of two victorious teams.
2. Lee Janzen (1995)
Hunter Martin
Like Gallagher, Janzen also won twice in 1995, but was left off the team. Janzen also played on a victorious 1993 squad and had won the 1993 U.S. Open. It should be noted that Wadkins opted to go with fellow Wake Forest Demon Deacon Curtis Strange, even though it had been six years since his last win, instead. Strange went 0-3 at Oak Hill in the U.S. loss.
3. Miguel Angel Martin (1997)
Getty Images
Now this is a weird one. The Spaniard actually qualified for Europe, but got injured. Still wanting to play, European captain Seve Ballesteros asked Martin to play to prove he was healthy, but he declined. Ballesteros then replaced Martin with friend Jose Maria Olazabal. Sadly, Martin, a three-time European Tour winner, never played in a Ryder Cup.
4. Bob Estes (1999)
Estes came agonizingly close to earning a spot on Ben Crenshaw’s squad when he finished sixth at the 1999 PGA Championship needing a top five to qualify. And he had a terrific season with 27 made cuts, 15 top 25s and nine top 10s in 28 starts. But it wasn’t enough for Crenshaw to pick him and he never came close to making a team again.
5. Darren Clarke (2008)
Jamie Squire
A previous five-time member of Europe and a two-time winner on the European Tour that year (plus a hero on Europe’s victorious 2006 team), Clarke seemed like a lock to make Nick Faldo’s squad at Valhalla. Instead, Faldo went with a pair of younger stars, Paul Casey and Ian Poulter. “Half of the guys have been in touch over the last day to say how disappointed they are for me, and to say how surprised they are that I won’t be going with them,” Clarke told the Guardian at the time. “I have to say I was quite surprised myself.” The Northern Irishman never played in a Ryder Cup again, but he did captain Europe in 2016.
6. Paul Casey (2010)
Cliff Hawkins
After being a captain’s pick in 2008, Casey was snubbed two years later despite being ranked inside the top 10 for the entire year. Captain Colin Montgomerie left the Englishman off the squad in favour of a struggling Padraig Harrington and provided little explanation why, which prompted a falling out between Casey and Monty.
7. Chris Kirk (2014)
Michael Reaves
Kirk joined the likes of Lee Janzen and Jim Gallagher Jr. as players to win twice on the PGA Tour in a season and not make the Ryder Cup. Working against Kirk was that he only finished 14th in the U.S. standings. However, captain Tom Watson picked both No. 15 Webb Simpson and No. 25 Hunter Mahan over him. Kirk played in the Presidents Cup the following year, but has never played in a Ryder Cup.
8. Russell Knox (2016)
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Another two-time PGA Tour winner being left out, but this time off Europe’s team. Knox holds that odd distinction thanks in part to his playing status at the time. Had he been an official European Tour member, the Scot would have qualified for Europe. Instead, he was passed over for a captain’s pick by Darren Clarke. Knox remains a zero-time Ryder Cup participant.
9. Matt Wallace (2018)
Stacy Revere
We could have gone with Rafa Cabrera-Bello for this year as well, but we’ll give the edge to Wallace, who won three times during his first full season on the European Tour. Instead of going with either of these rising stars, Thomas Bjorn opted to go with four captain’s picks with an average age of older than 40. Wallace can only hope his fellow Englishman Luke Donald picks him this year or he will still be without a Ryder Cup appearance.
10. Patrick Reed (2021)
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After emerging as “Captain America” for his play on U.S. Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams from 2014-2019, Reed was passed over by Steve Stricker at Medinah. The 2018 Masters champ had finished 11th in the standings, but a bout of bilateral pneumonia late in the season had muddled his status. Reed returned at the Tour Championship, but a 25th-place finish wasn’t enough to sway Stricker, who went with two guys ranked below Reed, Daniel Berger and Scottie Scheffler. And it’s hard to argue his choice given USA’s rout at Whistling Straits.
11. Adrian Meronk (2023)
Andrew Redington
Meronk seemed poised to become the first Polish player to make a Ryder Cup team until getting passed over by European captain Luke Donald. Despite the fact that the event was being held at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, where Meronk had won the Italian Open earlier that year. The following February, Meronk admitted that the snub pushed him to leave the DP World Tour and sign with LIV Golf.
12. Keegan Bradley (2023)
This had to be the most painful snub of all based on the fact that Netflix cameras caught Keegan’s rejection call from captain Zach Johnson.
Bradley was devastated. But he felt much better when the PGA of America selected him to be Team USA’s captain for the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.
13. Keegan Bradley (2025)
Again, this is a weird one with Bradley snubbing himself. And it adds to his decade-plus drought of not playing in the event. But Bradley will be more than happy if he leads the U.S. to a win from the sidelines.
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Main Image: Mike Stobe
