Why LIV players that want to make the Ryder Cup NEED to play well at the PGA Championship
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This is your captain calling. If you want to land at Bethpage Black, you’d better do the business at Quail Hollow.
The PGA Championship doesn’t just represent a shot at major glory this week — for LIV Golf players with Ryder Cup ambitions, it’s a crucial proving ground.
Team USA captain Keegan Bradley made that clear during his press conference at Quail Hollow, emphasizing that when it comes to earning a spot on the 2025 Ryder Cup team, performance on golf’s biggest stages will speak the loudest.
“These majors kind of separate guys,” Bradley said. “If you see a guy hang in there on Sunday, that’s impressive, especially at a course like this. There’s a lot of points at stake here.”
Bradley, who was named U.S. captain for the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, emphasized the importance of both analytics and “the eye test” when it comes to selecting his team – especially for players who aren’t already locking up automatic spots via the points list.
“We’ll definitely be using analytics to help us make the picks, along with the eye test to see who is suited to Bethpage,” Bradley said. “But if you can stand up to pressure on a Sunday at a major? That says a lot.”
The LIV Dilemma
With limited access to traditional PGA Tour stats and strokes-gained data, LIV golfers are at a disadvantage in the numbers game. Bradley acknowledged as much.
“We don’t have quite the same stats that we have out here, but we have some. We know winning and contending on any tour at any level is difficult. I don’t care where you play. I played the mini-tours. Winning there was difficult. Winning on LIV is difficult.”
Still, there’s a clear path for LIV players who want to make their case: perform well in the majors. The PGA Championship offers one of only four high-profile opportunities to impress both statistically and emotionally – for LIV players hoping to make the team, it might be their best shot.
Bradley said that while the Ryder Cup isn’t about LIV vs. PGA Tour politics, the selection process still depends on observable form and results.
“No one cares what’s going on with the PGA Tour v LIV thing. It doesn’t matter,” he said.
Dinner, unity, and reality
Bradley mentioned that Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau – both LIV players and Ryder Cup veterans – were invited to the recent Ryder Cup Team USA dinner.
That signals an open door, but not a free pass.
“We’re trying to put the best team together,” said Bradley. “It could mean there’s one LIV guy, two LIV guys – it doesn’t matter. We’ll see how this year shakes out. It was really great to have them together with all the guys. It’s been a while since we’ve been able to do that.”
The dinner, Bradley said, was about togetherness in a Ryder Cup year.
“It’s always fun this time of year to get everyone under one roof — caddies, players, wives — and celebrate a Ryder Cup year,” he said. “I sort of feel like a big brother to a lot of these guys.”
Still, he acknowledged the uphill battle Team USA faces. “It’s about trying to motivate the guys to get excited to play for our captains and get excited to play at Bethpage Black,” he said. “I know as a player, I loved going to these meetings.”
“As a player, I was always just so excited to go to stuff like that because it’s our dream to be on these teams. Even getting invited to a meeting like that is special because it means you could make the team.”
It’s a slightly troubling reflection for a team that’s lost eight of the last 11 Ryder Cups – especially amid lingering questions about whether American players are as emotionally invested as their European rivals, not helped by recent talk of wanting to be paid to participate.
Captain first, player second
Bradley, whose upturn in form has put him in contention for a spot on the team, insists he’s all-in on captaincy duties.
“My main job is to be the captain,” he said. “Right now, I go about every day as the captain. I don’t even think about myself as a player. If I get to the end of the year in that position, I’ll have to change that. But, right now, everything I think about is as the captain.”
As captain, Bradley wants competitors who are motivated, battle-tested, and able to rise to the moment under pressure.
“If you see a younger guy do that in a major, that’s as close to the pressure of the Ryder Cup as you can see,” he said. “If you can stand up to that and hang in there on a Sunday, that says a lot.”
For LIV hopefuls, there’s no sugarcoating it: Sunday at Valhalla may be their best chance to show they belong at Bethpage.
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Keegan Bradley is Team USA captain for the 2025 Ryder Cup
