"We were all shocked" - Billy Horschel gives his take on Keegan Bradley's Ryder Cup captaincy
On September 4, Billy Horschel shared his opinion about the new US Ryder Cup captain, Keegan Bradley, who will be leading the 2025 Ryder Cup US team. The Ryder Cup will take place on September 26-28 next year at Bethpage Black course.
Featuring in a recent episode of the 'Fairway of Life' podcast, Horschel talked about how the news initially came as a shock to everyone but expressed confidence in the new captain's capability to manage the team.
“I think we were all shocked when Keegan was announced. But at the same time I think Keegan's going to be a great Ryder Cup captain. I think he's perfect for that area...Keegan has a strong passion for team competitions. We've seen it many years when he was part of teams. But just having brief conversations with him, you know he's going to change some things,” Billy Horschel said ( 30:07-30:34).
"He's going to ask a lot of the players, he's going to ask him to make sacrifices that maybe they haven't made in the past. So I think he's going to bring an entirely different view of what he expects as us players what he expects as being captain in the Ryder cup. I think it's going to be a great transition into this new era for hopefully the United States team," he added
Last year's event was won by the European team, marking their 12th Ryder Cup victory.
Billy Horschel failed to make it to the 2024 President's Cup team
Although he finished well within the top 30 of FedEx Cup standings this year, Billy Horschel didn't make it to the US Team of the Presidents Cup, which means that he won't be playing at Montreal Golf Club on September 24. Horschel was present in the last edition of the Presidents Cup, where the US won the trophy with 17.5-12.5 against the International Team in 2022. But this year, the 2014 FedEx Cup winner won't play at the biennial event.
In the same podcast episode, Horschel explained how Jim Furyk, the captain of the US Team, is a great friend of his, but Horschel knew that his name was down the list and wouldn't make it to the 12-member squad.
“Jim's a great friend…I was way down the list,” Billy Horschel said (0:26 - 1:00).
He added that he was hurt because he wanted to play alongside Furyk in this Presidents Cup team.
“Listen, it hurts because Jim’s a good friend … I wanted to make this Presidents Cup team because he is the captain,” Horschel added (1:02-1:12).
Furyk's picks for the Presidential Cup squad include Keegan Bradley, Max Homa, Sam Burns, Russell Henley, Brian Harman, and Tony Finau.