THE 153RD OPEN

July 18, 2025

Keegan Bradley

Mixed Zone

Q. How did it feel today?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: That was fun. Played really, really well. I've been playing so poorly here over the last couple years. It feels nice to put a nice round together, nice two days together. I played nice yesterday as well. But what a fun day.

Q. What's changed?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Just playing a lot better. I've really struggled on the greens over here the last handful of years. I've struggled on slower greens, had a better game plan and had to feel a longer stroke and made a lot more putts, but also driving the ball well, which is huge.

Q. If you weren't a captain, you would be striving really hard to make the team. Are you acting the same way?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Definitely. I mean, I've got to play really well to make the team just as if I wasn't the captain. I had a very similar year at Rome and didn't make the team. I have to keep going. I really need to play well this event and then in the Playoffs.

Q. Is there a specific satisfaction to have a bogey-free round?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Yeah, there is. I really am proud of that. Like I said, I've struggled here, so to be in contention, to have played the way I did today means a lot. I never know what I'm going to get when I come over here, so this is a nice bonus.

Q. Did you hit many drivers today?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: I hit a lot of drivers. Other than 1 and 18 and a couple others, I hit a lot of drivers out here.

Q. We've seen guys lay back with driving irons, fairway woods, some of the ways the bunkers pinch in or some of the carries you can roll out (indiscernible) doglegs?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Definitely, but the problem with laying way back is you're also going to have a 5- or 4-iron in, and find that to be really difficult, and then if you miss the fairway from there, you're in deep trouble. You really have to commit and then you've got to get some good bounces out here.

Q. How difficult is it to separate the player side in the Open and your role as Ryder Cup captain?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Well, I've said this a million times, but I really can just be a player when I'm inside the ropes. It's the only time I can sort of not be the captain. When I'm inside the ropes with a card in my pocket, I really can just focus on playing, and then when I leave here, I'll be the captain again. It's impossible for me not to be. When I'm around the guys or talking to my vice captains or whatever that is or planning for Bethpage. But when I'm inside those ropes and I don't have my phone on, I'm a player, and that's a big help.

Q. Are you learning anything this week?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: I mean, I'm happy that some Americans are up at the top of the leaderboard. It's really such a different experience for me to look at a leaderboard now because I look up there and I'm like, Brian is playing good, that's awesome, or Harris is playing -- I really feel excited about it, which is really fun.

Q. Do you have Ryder Cup duties that you're doing this afternoon, or do you shut it down this week?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: We always do, yeah. We're always in communication. We'll text thread with the guys and we'll talk about who's up on the leaderboard, what's going on, what the guys are hearing. It's really an everyday job. That's why a lot of people do it when they're not playing.

But it's also really fun to do it as well.

Q. Do you know where the Bradleys, what county they are from in Ireland?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Yeah, Cork, which is southern from here. But really proud of my heritage to be from here. I played the Irish Open here. I always dreamt of playing Irish Open; I played it at this course when I made the Tour. Exciting to be back.

Q. With your Open record, how much do you view it as I need to adapt for this one week or do you chalk it up to my game is going to work the 51 other weeks of the year?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Well, I feel like I'm a much better player right now than I've ever been. This is the best I've ever played throughout my entire career. I'm a way better chipper of the ball, which I've worked on. I'm very high in the stats on the Tour, which I never have been, which is a huge help. I chipped two to a foot today that were tough chips. Putting a lot better, and I just feel a lot more comfortable being out there in these big moments. I do feel like I'm a much more well-rounded player now.

Q. If you're No. 7 in the rankings at the end of the period, how difficult would it be for you not to pick yourself, or would it be easy to pick yourself?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: No, it certainly won't be easy. Nothing about picking whoever it is is going to be easy, but if I get to that position and I feel like I'm going to help the team, then I'll consider playing. But I really get asked that question 10 times a day, and I don't really have an answer.

I want to obviously wait until the time comes to pick the players and see how I'm doing, and if there's somebody that is playing great that can take my spot, I'll be thrilled for that. I just want to put the best team on the course at Bethpage.

Q. Would you add Wyndham to try for Ryder Cup points more or for FedEx points or both, if you even did?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Probably FedEx. But the Playoffs, we still have a lot of points at stake at the Playoffs. I get a printout of the percentages left, and there's still a good chunk of points available for the guys. So there's extreme movement. These are a point and a half this week for the team, so there's extreme movement in these events, especially if someone comes out of sort of nowhere and wins, then the list can change quick.

Q. On Sunday if you win or come in top 5, top 10, top 15, will you internally accept yourself on your own team?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Yeah, certainly if I won I'd be in the top 6 in points.

Q. How about top 10, 12?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: No, I wouldn't yet. I'd wait. Again, I want to make sure I put the team in the best position to play. I have to really figure out how this would work. But I've got great vice captains. Jim Furyk is, like, the best. He knows how to do this. Sneds and Webb and Gary, they're a great team to lean on.

Q. Has the conversation in your text chain with the vice captains changed as you continue to be successful?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: A little bit, yeah. I'm going to look at myself as just another player. It's tough to me, but I have to -- we have to look at every single possibility just like we'd look at any other player in my position. Anybody in the top 12 or top 15 or top 20, you want to look at the player that's playing the best. We've still got a month, two months left before the Ryder Cup, and if I continue my play, then we'll talk about this, but you never know how this golf thing is.

Q. Because this is kind of an unknown territory for most of us, including yourself, have you been talking about how you would actually work through this operationally?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Yeah, it's interesting because so many times in my career I've leaned on other players to help me go through situations, whether it's endorsements or certain situations or how I feel in tournaments. I have no one to talk to about this. I can't call someone who's done it. Tiger Woods did it at the Presidents Cup. I've spoken to him a ton about this. There's a few other guys that have done it in the Presidents Cup. The Ryder Cup is a much different animal.

But we have a plan. We have a "for instance" that could happen. That can obviously change during the week. You've got to see how each player is playing. But we're learning as we go just like everybody else.

Q. What was Tiger's advice?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Well, Tiger has been really helpful. He obviously turned this position down and it came to me, so he's been very helpful in this process. Tiger has been really, really great to me over the course of my career. He does a lot of things for us players that he doesn't do for the media. So he's been really helpful to me my whole life. Really kind to me actually. During this process, he's been one of the most helpful people that I've had.

Q. Have you signed a captain's agreement?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: That's a strange question. Why?

Q. Well, because if, in fact, you became a playing captain, I would think that you'd want to have the agreement to have certain things in it that maybe it wouldn't have if you weren't playing captain.

KEEGAN BRADLEY: We're working on the captain's agreement.

Q. Have you determined the order of play yet?

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Not yet, but we're very close. The home team usually plays a certain way. You can look it up. We're very close to signing the captain's agreement and getting the course of play set.

Q. Talk about the eagle today on 2.

KEEGAN BRADLEY: Yeah, honestly the shot I hit in there was one of the best shots I've hit all year. I hit a little hold 5-wood in there. It was nice because I really wanted to play the weekend for the first time in, like, years. But I also wanted to play well enough to get myself in position, so that was a great start to the round.