Keegan Bradley was depressingly honest about the Ryder Cup defeat

Immediately after the Americans officially had lost the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, U.S. captain Keegan Bradley called his relationship with the biennial team competition a “complicated” one. His most recent assessment of the defeat only furthers that notion.

Participating in a media event for the Travelers Championship on Monday, Bradley spoke for the first time since Europe closed out its 15-13 victory over the U.S., and he was depressingly honest about how he has felt in the three weeks afterward.

“You win, it’s glory for a lifetime,” Bradley said. “You lose, it’s ‘I’m going to have to sit with this for the rest of my life’.

“There’s no part of me that thinks I’ll ever get over this.”

Considering the fact Bradley has never been one to hide his feelings, that outlook is hardly surprising. It’s not off base, either. Just ask Zach Johnson, whose two major championships came at Augusta National and St. Andrews, two of golf’s biggest cathedrals. And yet, some fans first associate him with the U.S. team’s brutal effort in the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone, where Johnson was the captain in a 16½-11½ European drubbing. On the other side there is Luke Donald, who has less than half of Johnson’s PGA Tour wins and none of the majors, yet has etched himself into European golf lore forever with his 2-0 record as captain.

That stuff can certainly weigh on the mind.

“Since the Ryder Cup to now has been one of the toughest times in my life,” Bradley said. “I really would enjoy playing in one more. I don’t know if I’ll get the chance.”

Indeed, the unfortunate reality is that this most recent Ryder Cup may have been Bradley’s last real opportunity to play in the event, his case for being one of the six captain’s picks as strong as anyone else’s. But Bradley decided against going the playing captain route, something Arnold Palmer was the last to do in 1963.

In addition to having to live with the loss, Bradley has to now live with the fact he left himself off the team while still, at age 39, in the prime of his career.

“I’ll forever wonder and wish that I had a chance to play there,” Bradley said. “The first practice day, I was out on the tee, and I was watching the guys walk down the fairway all together, and I said: ‘I wish I was playing. That’s what it’s all about. I’m missing out.'”

Bradley did add that he was ultimately glad he didn’t play, as he was physically exhausted just from role of captain alone.

“I just didn’t think I could do both jobs,” he said.

“This effing event has been so brutal to me. I don’t know if I want to play. No, I do,” Bradley said. “It’s such a weird thing to love something so much that just doesn’t give you anything.”