Meet the U.S. captain's picks for the 2025 Ryder Cup

U.S. Ryder Cup Captain Keegan Bradley officially selected his six picks to round out his 12-man team for the biennial competition with Europe at the 45^th Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, Sept. 26-28.

For starters, Bradley, 39, did not pick himself and will therefore not be the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963.

"The decision was made a while ago that I wasn't playing," Bradley said during the Wednesday news conference at PGA Frisco. "The last 48 hours, we had the team set. We weren't scrambling at all. This was a really tough decision. I will say, there was a point where I was playing. All these guys stepped up in a major way and played their way on to this team."

Let’s take a look at the six who did get picked and some who were left out.

The 6 captain's picks for U.S. Ryder Cup team

Justin Thomas

Thomas made the 2023 team as a captain’s pick based on experience. This time, he finished seventh in points while ending his victory drought in April at the RBC Heritage. Ranked fifth in the world, he finished T-7 at the Tour Championship, one of eight top-10 finishes this season. This will be the fourth Ryder Cup for the 32-year-old Thomas, who holds a lifetime record of 7-4-2.

Bradley's take: Justin is the heartbeat of our team. He had an amazing win at RBC this year. He's the fifth-ranked player in the world. This guy was born to play Ryder Cups and specifically, I think, at Bethpage Black.

Collin Morikawa

This marks the third Ryder Cup appearance for Morikawa, who has a record of 4-3-1.

Morikawa finished eighth in the point standings and is ranked eighth in the world. His game has cooled since early in the year when he finished second at the Sentry and Arnold Palmer Invitational. He’s notched just one top 10 since March — at the Rocket Classic in July. 

Bradley's take: Collin is one of the most genuine, thoughtful people that I've ever met. He's an incredible teammate, incredible ball striker. His golf resume speaks for itself. But more importantly, he'll do whatever it takes to help our team win, and he brings so much to our team. Really proud to have him.

Ben Griffin

The 29-year-old is a rookie on Team USA after a breakthrough season. Griffin, who quit pro golf and took a 9-to-5 job during COVID, won twice this year and climbed from No. 65 to No. 17 in the world. He ranked No. 8 in the Ryder Cup point standings. He notched eight top 10s this season and has finished inside the top 15 the last 10 times he’s made the cut.

Bradley's take: Ben is an extremely confident, excited player. He's burst on to the scene this year with 10 top 10s, only second to Scottie in our team, including two wins, one at Colonial and one at Zurich, which plays the same format as the Ryder Cup. I'm really proud of this player for making this team. He had to show all year that he was playing at this level and he was consistent the entire year, and we're really lucky to have him on this team.

Cameron Young

Young finished 14^th in the points standing but he’s been one of the hottest golfers of late. The 28-year-old Young won the Wyndham Championship last month and finished fifth, 11^th, T-4 in the three FedEx Cup playoff events. He once held the course record of 64 at Bethpage Black en route to winning the N.Y. State Open there as an amateur. He’s improved his putting from No. 145 a year ago in SG: putting to No. 6 on Tour.

Bradley's take: Cam has been one of the most consistent players on the Tour. He broke through with that amazing win at the Wyndham Championship, and he's been fighting so hard. Watching him on Sunday with that big lead play like that was incredible. Cameron is a New Yorker. He won the New York State Open at Bethpage Black as an amateur, set the course record on that day with 64. Cameron pounds the golf ball, and he's putting it as good as he's ever putted in his career. He's had nine top-12 finishes, which shows you how consistent he's been. We're very proud to have a New Yorker on our team and represent his country at Bethpage Black.

Patrick Cantlay

Cantlay was at the center of a huge Ryder Cup controversy in 2023 when he reportedly refused to wear a cap unless the U.S. team was paid. He denied the story but was heckled relentlessly in Rome by the European partisan crowd. It didn’t bother him from making a clutch putt at 17 on Saturday to help secure a much-needed point for the U.S. He has teamed well with Xander Schauffele and likely their success together influenced Bradley’s decision to pick Cantlay.

Cantlay ranked 15^th in the points standings and has slipped to No. 21 in the world. He finished the playoffs with two top-10 finishes: a T-9 at the FedEx St. Jude Championship and T-2 at the Tour Championship. 

Cantlay has a Ryder Cup record of 5 wins, 2 losses and 1 tie across his two previous appearances in 2021 and 2023. 

Bradley's take: One of the greatest pleasures these last couple years of being the Ryder Cup captain is getting to know Patrick better. He's got a 15-6-1 record in team events. He's a leader of our team. When he speaks, people listen. Quite simply, Patrick was born for the Ryder Cup.

This is where he thrives. This is where we need him. He's an integral part of our team and a leader and someone we're going to rely on heavily at Bethpage.

Sam Burns

Burns finished 16^th in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings but has come on strong. He’s No. 22 in the world and has finished T-4 at the BMW and T-7 at the Tour Championship. He ranked first this season in Strokes Gained: putting (0.924) and putting inside 10 feet (90.79 percent).

This will be his second Ryder Cup. Burns, 29, had a 1-2 record at the 2023 Ryder Cup, losing in foursomes and his singles match against Rory McIlroy. He won a fourball match on Saturday with Collin Morikawa. He’s also played on the last two Presidents Cup teams.

Bradley's take: Sam is an incredibly passionate golfer. He's the best putter on the planet. He has won the Match Play Championship. He has an extreme competitive fire in his belly.

I have a lot of respect for Sam and the way that he came on at the end of the season to make this team. His back was against the wall, and he played well every week to end the season, and I've been in that position, and that's some of the hardest times to play good golf is trying to make these Ryder Cup teams, and Sam did that.

We love to have Sam on our side with that putter at Bethpage. I can't wait to see him out there in front of those fans. He plays with his heart on his sleeve, and people at Bethpage are going to love that.

Close but no cigar

Maverick McNealy

McNealy, 30, finished 10^th in points. Known as one of the top putters on the PGA Tour, McNealy won the RSM Classic in November and made his first trip to the Tour Championship this season. Ranked 19^th in the world, he finished third at the BMW Championship. This would have been his first Ryder Cup appearance.

Brian Harman

The 38-year-old Harman made his Ryder Cup debut in 2023 in Rome and had a record of 2-2. He won earlier this year at the Valero Texas Open and contended into the weekend at the British Open. He’s a gritty competitor who thrives in match play but Bethpage favors the bombers and he didn’t do enough the last few months to show Bradley that he had to have him on the team. He finished 12th in U.S. Ryder Cup team rankings.

Andrew Novak

It was a banner year for Novak, who improved from 123^rd to 30^th in the world. He finished 13^th in points thanks to a victory with Ben Griffin at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, a team event. He finished T-6 at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, his best finish since his victory in late April. Novak made the Tour Championship for the first time.

Chris Gotterup

The New Jersey native came from out of nowhere and made a late push for a pick with a victory at the Genesis Scottish Open in July, a third at the British Open and T-10 at the 3M Open. He snuck his way into the Tour Championship and finished T-10. Gotterup ranked 20^th in points and 26^th in the world.