By ED TRAVIS
Part-time tour player Tiger Woods said he had too many other commitments to captain the 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup team, and the PGA of America selected Keegan Bradley. Bradley, 38, won the 2011 PGA Championship and is still winning on the PGA Tour, most recently winning the 2023 Travelers Championship and the 2022 ZOZO Championship. He is ranked 19th in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR).
From Bradley's perspective, Woods' refusal was a good thing, as he would have been unlikely to receive the offer in any other year. That leaves Stewart Cink, the 2009 British Open champion who defeated an aging Tom Watson.
A little more than a year from now, in September 2025, the Ryder Cup will be held at the Black Course at Bethpage State Park on Long Island, an hour east of New York City, and I can attest to being a brutal and extremely difficult test. It has hosted three major championships: the 2002 U.S. Open won by Woods, the 2009 U.S. Open won by Lucas Glover and the 2019 PGA Championship won by Bruce Koepka.
But the unresolved questions are extremely important. Will LIV players who were banned from the PGA Tour when they signed with the LIV/Saudi PIF Tour be selected for the team? The PGA of America, which runs the Ryder Cup rather than the PGA Tour, has not publicly stated this possibility, but selection is based on the Official World Golf Ranking, both for automatic berths and captain selection.
U.S. Open champion and LIV player Bryson DeChambeau said he would love to be a member of the American team. However, since the LIV withdrew its application to allow players to earn OWGR points, the only way for him or any other LIV player to earn points is through their performance in the majors. DeChambeau is currently ranked 9th in the world with his U.S. Open victory, second place in the PGA Championship and T6 in the Masters.
Bradley will be under pressure to do that well, and he said he wants to have the 12 best players on the team, regardless of where they play, be it the PGA Tour or LIV.
Scheffler on leave
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler has had an eventful 2024 so far. He won six PGA Tour titles, including the Masters, became a father for the first time, and was arrested before the second round of the PGA Championship, with charges dropped, all of which took their toll. He was disappointed to finish tied for 41st at the U.S. Open, won the Travelers Championship the following week, but chose to rest before the British Open and did not play in the Scottish Open last weekend.
He has played in the British Open three times after participating in the Scottish Open. The schedule adjustment was to better prepare for golf's oldest Grand Slam. His best result in 2021 was T8.
Short putt
Robert MacIntyre defeated Adam Scott to win the Scottish Open last weekend. He is the first Scotsman to win the Scottish Open since Colin Montgomerie in 1999.
The IOC can't wait to see the outcome of Dutch golfer and DP World Tour player Joost Luiten's lawsuit against the Dutch Olympic Committee to be allowed to compete in the Olympics. They filled his rightful seat on the grounds that they had not participated in the lawsuit. Everyone knows the IOC, and at least this time it didn't side with the athletes. Well, there's always 2028, and as Luiten said, the Dutch Olympic Committee “knows nothing about golf.”
In case you missed the announcement, Riviera Country Club will be the venue for the men's and women's golf events at the 2028 Olympics. This year, Le Golf National near Paris will be the host course.
