On opening day of Ryder Cup week at Bethpage Black, teams are practicing, the intrigue in pairings is swirling, and Captains Keegan Bradley and Luke Donald are hitting the ground running to get their squads prepped for play later this week.
First, though, Bradley and Donald let the world in a bit on what’s going through their heads on Monday, Sept. 22, sharing some insight, perspective and things maybe not every golf fan knew about the two of them.
Here are five things you may have missed from the Ryder Cup Captain’s press conference:
Friendly Foes
It’s rare for the European and United States Captains to know each other very well, let alone be friends. But that’s exactly what Bradley and Donald are. They’ve known each other for years, live close in South Florida and have the utmost respect for each other.
Regardless of the result on Sunday afternoon, that won’t change. But that doesn’t mean the motivation to win has subsided at all.
“I’ve known Keegan 12, 13 years now. We play practice rounds together when we’re on the road, have dinners together. Keegan is someone that I’ve rooted for,” says Donald. “We have a good, strong friendship but we’re also very competitive. And we’ll have a drink together on Sunday night no matter the result but this week is about trying to get our teams to win.”
Added Bradley: “For me, there’s not many people I like more in the golf world than Luke Donald. I feel lucky to have Luke on the opposite side – he was the first real ‘top player’ to treat me with a respect that I couldn’t believe. I wanted to be the first to tell him that I was going to be captain here, out of respect to him.
“But we know, once the competition comes, we both want to win.”
Bradley Called for a Bigger Cause Than Playing Captain
“Any tinge of wonder?”
“Definitely.”
Almost a month removed from Bradley’s Captain’s Picks announcement in Frisco, but the decision he made to forgo being a Playing Captain still sits in the back of his mind.
” I’ve thought about it every second,” Bradley noted. “I catch myself seeing the guys walking down the fairway or wondering what it would have been like to be Scottie Scheffler’s teammate. I’m always thinking about how I could’ve been out there, but I also think about how impossible it’d be.
FARMINGDALE, NY – SEPTEMBER 22: Keegan Bradley speaks with Team USA during the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage State Park on Monday, September 22, 2025 in Farmingdale, New York. (Photo by Darren Carroll/PGA of America)“I was called for a bigger cause and picked to do this job. If I was playing, there’s so many things I couldn’t do at the same level. Ultimately, I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed being just the captain.”
Donald Ready for Round II, Leans Into History
Luke Donald got the job done in Rome – so well, actually, he was named Team Europe’s Captain again to do something they haven’t done since 2012: win in the United States.
On Monday, he tried to install a subtle nod to the past to get set a different tone. Players donned salmon pink golf shirts, which the 1987 European Team wore in their win at Muirfield Village.
FARMINGDALE, NY – SEPTEMBER 22: Team Europe Captain Luke Donald sits for a media interview during the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage State Park on Monday, September 22, 2025 in Farmingdale, New York. (Photo by Darren Carroll/PGA of America)“It’s always important to rally around something, whether that’s history, the legends who have come before us: those are the things that make us who we are as a team,” says Donald. “This will be a difficult challenge. We’ve not been close the last 3 of 4 times, but we’ve also won 4 times away since 1987. That’s what motivates the guys.
“We’re here to try and do it again.”
U.S. First Tee Moment a Year in the Making
Golf is an individual sport and no one knows that more than tour players who compete every week. But what makes the Ryder Cup so unique is how it brings players together under one flag for a bigger reason.
That was the case Monday morning on the first tee for the United States. Bradley, his Vice Captains, players, caddies, and coaches all gathered together and circled up for a moment.
“It was really powerful,” Bradley added. “I had this vision doing a moment on the first tee, just us as a team, for about a year. To be on that first tee without the crowds, the guys together, hearing the national anthem… it was a really special time for us.”
And Bradley knows more than anyone how Ryder Cups are not promised, they are earned, and how the first tee gathering was a moment to soak in.
“Looking around and seeing all the guys so into it… a lot of people have worked really hard to get to this point in their lives,” Bradley said. “You never know whether you’re gonna play 1 or 10 Ryder Cups, and sometimes in your life, you have to take stock of what’s going around you. That moment? Guys were really taking it in, and it was a beautiful thing.”
Friday Morning Beckons
As the week chugs along at Bethpage Black, both Bradley and Donald seem to have a sense of familiarity that made them appear fairly comfortable in the captain’s seat on Monday.
Donald comes with his winning experience in Rome and a familiar team of players that’ll compete for him. Bradley has the familiarity of Bethpage Black, the place he came so many times in college at St. John’s, to buoy him.
But both know that they have an opportunity to do something special come Friday morning.
My main goal is to put these players in a position to play well,” Bradley said. “And when you do that… they guys can go out and perform ath their highest level.”
Added Donald: “Just like in other sports, coaches… they have an impact on the game. There’s so much preparation that goes into this… you hope that, as the Captain, you have some kind of influence on the end results.”