Ross Kinnaird

You can argue over who should have made the US Ryder Cup team for days, but there’s no debating the golfer who took his rejection hardest on Tuesday. That would be Keegan Bradley, who sadly was on the wrong end of captain Zach Johnson’s phone call.

In a conversation with Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis, Bradley said he was “super bummed out” over the news. He also expressed disappointment that being a self-described “outsider” in the sport seemed to hurt his chances as players who had much weaker seasons, most notably Justin Thomas, made the squad instead.

“I feel like moving forward I’m going to have to automatically qualify for the Ryder Cup,” Bradley told Lewis of not receiving a captain’s pick despite winning twice in 2022-2023, including beating an elite field at the Travelers Championship in June. A win that after, he admitted, one of his first thoughts was how much it should help him make the team.

But if all that didn’t make golf fans feel bad enough for Bradley on Tuesday, the Instagram post he shared on Wednesday will. Have a look at this photo of Bradley’s bag from the 2012 Ryder Cup and the sentimental message he wrote about it:

Wow. That’s downright heartbreaking. Although it also leads to an obvious question: Does that mean Bradley has had dirty clothes zippered up in a bag for more than a decade? Hopefully not.

But back to the main point at hand, this guy lives for the Ryder Cup since making his debut in the biennial event in 2012. Bradley also made the team in 2014 — as well as the 2013 Presidents Cup team — but hasn’t represented the US since. And at 37, he’s well aware there’s a chance it won’t happen again.

But as you can see, Bradley is still fully behind the red, white and blue.

“I’m proud of the effort I put in to make this amazing team over a decade later,” Bradley wrote. “But it wasn’t meant to be. All of the support has been amazing, but it’s time now to get behind this US team. I’m gonna be watching and pulling as hard as I can for them! GOUSA”

And go Keegan. It’s never too early to start working toward 2025 at Bethpage Black.