Keegan Bradley forgot he won amid the Ryder Cup debacle

It’s been a whirlwind season for Keegan Bradley. He captured a major PGA Tour win amid one of his best years on the course. But a devastating loss in the 2025 Ryder Cup as Captain America has overshadowed his personal achievements.

This was clear in his pre-tournament press conference World Heroes Challenge 2025where Bradley admitted that the period since his Ryder Cup loss has been the “darkest time” of his life, so bad that his coach had to remind him that he won this year.

Bradley’s Ryder Cup loss overshadows personal achievements

In many ways, 2025 was one of Bradley’s years best seasons on the PGA Tour. He earned his The eighth Tour event in the Travelers Championship in June, a signature event. It was one of six top-10 finishes on the year, including a T8 at the PGA Championship.

He eventually finished 7th in the final FedEx Cup standings and is 14th in the Official World Golf Ranking. And he accomplished all of this while serving as Ryder Cup captain.

Bradley admitted this during his pre-tournament press conference at the Hero World Challenge.

“I’m really proud of the way I played. I think in many ways it’s the best year of my career,” Bradley said. “My rookie year I won a major twice, so it’s going to be tough to beat. But with everything going on, I’m really proud of how I played.”

Unfortunately, all of his accomplishments seemed to fade in the wake of the American team’s heartbreaking loss at home to Bethpage Black in late September. When asked to give himself a grade for the season, Bradley said the Ryder Cup loss dropped his grade to an “F.”

“When you factor in losing the Ryder Cup, I mean, it’s an F,” Bradley said. “You have to go and earn it and this grade is different. It’s really hard to evaluate.”

Bradley then described the struggles he has had since the Ryder Cup, saying it was “definitely” the darkest period of his career.

“I mean, probably the darkest time of my life. I mean, I don’t know how else to describe it. Definitely, definitely of my career,” he said.

He also detailed the lasting impact the Ryder Cup has had on him, saying: “You’re just exhausted and you’re down, I know. It hurts. But there was, it just was, it was just a tough time. It still is.”

The loss took such a toll on Bradley that his coach had to remind him that he had won the Travelers Championship just months earlier.

“I was talking to my coach, he said, ‘Remember, you won this year,'” Bradley said. “I was like, no, I don’t remember that at all.”

He continued: “It was a unique year. I think a year that really no other player has ever experienced. I’m proud of the way I played of course, but the end of the year was difficult.”

Earlier in the week, comments from US Ryder Cup team member Justin Thomas on There are no extension podcasts turned his attention to the beatdown at Bethpage.

Thomas claimed Bradley and the team “fought” with tournament organizers over the speed of the Bethpage Black green during the event. The team argued that they were playing slower than they had requested.

When asked about the controversy at his Hero press conference, Bradley confirmed that they wanted fast greens and that he had to trust the tournament organizers in the end.

“The Sunday before the Ryder Cup, we lose control of the golf course, the home team. They were given the specifics of where to put the greens and they thought they had done it. They did a great job,” Bradley began. “It’s so hard to understand. There’s so much going on and you want the greens at a certain speed and they’re telling you they are. You have to take their word for it. But the greens are so flat I think it’s hard to get the pace we’re looking for. But the course was in great shape.”

He added that while he wanted to blame someone else for the U.S. team’s loss in the Ryder Cup, it was only his fault.

“You know, the Europeans, they just played so well. I wish we could blame somebody, but we can’t. Blame me, I blame myself for that loss,” Bradley said.

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