Rory McIlroy has expressed “disbelief” at Keegan Bradley being appointed United States captain for the Ryder Cup and says it would “absolutely not” be possible to combine the role with playing on the team.
Bradley was the surprise choice to lead the Americans at Bethpage Black in September 2025 after 15-time major champion Tiger Woods turned down the captaincy.
McIlroy said he was told of the appointment by Europe skipper Luke Donald at a dinner this week that was also attended by 2023 Ryder Cup team-mates Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry and Nicolai Hojgaard.
Asked what the reaction in the room was, McIlroy said: “I think disbelief, probably. I think Keegan was probably in disbelief at some point too, but [it is] certainly an interesting pick.
“Definitely I think a surprise for everyone. But he knows Bethpage very well. He went to university in the area. He’s obviously very passionate about the Ryder Cup.
“It’s certainly a departure from what the US have done over the last few years, and time will tell if that’s a good thing or not.”
Bradley, who is 38, will be the youngest captain since Arnold Palmer combined playing with the captaincy in 1963.
After narrowly missing out on automatic selection for the US team in Rome, Bradley was overlooked for a captain’s pick by Zach Johnson, who oversaw a 16½-11½ defeat as Europe regained the Ryder Cup.
Bradley, currently 19th in the world rankings, has said he will try to qualify for the team, but McIlroy believes he would then have to relinquish the captaincy.
Speaking after posting a five-under-par 65 in the first round of his Scottish Open title defence, McIlroy spoke about whether a player could take on dual roles.
“No, absolutely not,” he said.
“I’ve contemplated it for Adare [in 2027] but there’s too much work that goes into it. I’ve seen what Luke went through preparing for Rome.
“There’s no way you can be as good a captain as you need to be and be a playing captain as well.
“If you want to be the best captain you can be, you can’t play. And if you want to be the best player, you can’t captain. So it’s one or the other, especially with how big the Ryder Cup has become and how many things you have to do in the lead-up to the event.
“Keegan is the 19th-ranked in the world so he has a great chance of making the team. If he does, I think he’s going to have to give that captaincy role to one of the vice-captains.”
