NEW YORK — Keegan Bradley, together with the PGA of America, unveiled Team USA’s selection criteria for the 2025 Ryder Cup. The process is similar to the one used in 2023, when the Europeans trounced the Americans in Rome.
Ryder Cup Captain Keegan Bradley unveils 1 major change to 2025 qualifying criteria
Keegan Bradley unveiled the system the Americans will use to determine its team for the 2025 Ryder Cup, which includes one notable difference.
Jack Milko has been playing golf since he was five years old. He has yet to record a hole-in-one, but he did secure an M.A. in Sports Journalism from St. Bonaventure University.
However, one notable difference stands out: Major champions will not receive bonus points for winning in 2025.
Those who won majors in 2023 received two points per $1,000 earned at The Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open, or The Open. That essentially cemented all four major champions onto the team, including Brooks Koepka, who became the first active LIV player to win a major at Oak Hill.
No such reward will be granted this year.
Instead, the PGA of America will retain its 1.5 Points per $1,000 earned at the majors, which the organization also utilized in 2023. But winners will not receive anything additional. So, if a LIV Golfer wins a major next year, they will not receive the premium that Koepka did at Oak Hill.
Koepka’s win in Rochester all but placed him on the team, as he sat among the top six players for most of the season. That said, Koepka finished seventh in the final standings by the slimmest of margins, which were finalized at the end of the 2023 BMW Championship. But captain Zach Johnson had no choice but to use one of his six captain’s picks on Koepka due to his strong play.
The top six players earned automatic spots on the team, while Johnson had six captain’s picks at his disposal. The same formula applies to Bradley’s squad in 2025.
Yet, Bradley insists that he will have the 12 best players on his team, regardless of what tour they play on.
“I’m going to take the 12 best players,” Bradley said Tuesday.
“So if we feel like there’s a few guys there, one guy, two guys, whatever it is, then we’re going to do that. But we’re too far out to figure out how this is all going to play out. But we’re definitely going to take the 12 best players, however that shakes out.”
As for the remaining criteria, all American players—including LIV Golf players—had the opportunity to earn points at the four majors and The Players Championship in 2024. Players earned one Ryder Cup point for each $1,000 they received in those five events. Unsurprisingly, Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele sit atop the current Ryder Cup standings.
Then, in 2025, players who make the cut in PGA Tour events will receive one point per $1,000 earned, beginning on Jan. 1, 2025, through the conclusion of the BMW Championship—the penultimate event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs—on Aug. 17, 2025. That also includes The Players Championship. Yet, this system does not include opposite-field events, such as the Corales Puntacana Championship, as players must compete in regular PGA Tour events to earn points.
That proves that Bradley only wants the best of the best.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
