Will U.S. captain Keegan Bradley also play in Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black?

Keegan Bradley was meeting the media early Monday afternoon behind the new stands being finished around the first tee at Bethpage Black. But earlier in the day, he was out on Bethpage Red, giving Ryder Cup tickets to unsuspecting golfers on that public course.

Surprise!

Now there’s a hands-on U.S. captain, one who knew Bethpage Red from his days playing for St. John’s.

“Really, really special,” Bradley said after being a part of “The People’s Perk” giveaway of 3,000 tickets by the PGA of America to New York residents. “ . . . To see the joy on people’s faces is really great.”

One big question at the moment about this Ryder Cup that’s set for Sept. 26 to 28 on the famed Black Course goes like this:

Will Bradley be a really, really hands-on captain and also play for the U.S. in its biennial showdown against Europe's best?

The top six in the points standings through Sunday automatically qualified for the 12-man team: Scottie Scheffler, J.J. Spaun, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, Harris English and Bryson DeChambeau.

Bradley, an eight-time tournament winner, including the 2011 PGA Championship and the Travelers Championship in June, gets six captain’s picks. So will this 39-year-old player select himself to be among the lucky half dozen? He wasn’t ruling it out.

“We haven’t decided anything yet,” Bradley said. “Picks are [announced] a week from Wednesday. We’re contemplating a lot of options. This has been a two-year process of points, and this isn’t something we’re scrambling over in the past week. We’ve been deliberating over this for a while.

“We have it kind of whittled down to a group of guys, and I’m in that conversation.

“But ultimately we have to decide what’s best for the team and what’s best for us winning the Ryder Cup here at Bethpage. We’re going to all sit down, the vice captains and the top six, and figure out what’s the best course of action.”

There hasn’t been a player-captain for the U.S. since Arnold Palmer in 1963. Bradley, who went 4-3 while playing on the team in 2012 and 2014, wasn’t picked in 2023 when the U.S. lost. He currently stands 11th in points.

“I think it would absolutely be an unbelievable storyline for this Ryder Cup to have the first playing captain in obviously decades,” said Bryan Karns, the championship director of the Ryder Cup. “But the thing that we’ve all been able to rest very comfortably with is the fact that nobody cares more about winning this Ryder Cup than Keegan Bradley.

“… And so it’s one of those things that there’s no concerns about where his head’s at.”

Karns said “about 80%” of the work at the course is done. While Bradley was speaking, workers took a timeout from construction on the stands that will be like an amphitheater around the 18th hole and the first tee.

There are about 50,000 fans expected each day. Bradley is expecting red, white and blue passion to be flowing among them.

“I’m very aware of how special this place is to New Yorkers and I’m very aware of what America means to New Yorkers,” Bradley said. “You combine those two at a venue like this, you’re going to have some rowdy fans. We want them to cheer for us. We want them to be passionate and cheer for the home team.”

The home team has the world’s No. 1 golfer. Scheffler has claimed two majors among his five titles this season.

“The interesting part about the Ryder Cup is that one player is not going to do much on a team,” Bradley said. “He can certainly make a difference, an impact.

“Having Scottie on our team is great because of how good of a player he is, but also the human that he is and the friend that he is and the mentor that he is to the younger players is actually probably more valuable than how good of a player he is.”

Bradley knows what he will have out there on Bethpage Black after the 12 players are in place.

“We’re going to have a great team,” he said. “One of the things about these Ryder Cup teams is there’s no role players on these teams. You don’t put a guy on a team, like a basketball team, that just rebounds. Each one of these guys is a high-profile, big-time player looking to win majors. Europe has the same squad. I’m really happy with the way the team’s come together.”