Weekly PGA Recap: Under Lock and Keegan

This article is part of our Weekly PGA Recap series.

Keegan Bradley's life certainly got a lot more interesting in the past two months. And maybe even much more interesting very soon.

On the heels of being named 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup captain, and subsequently a vice captain for next month's U.S. Presidents Cup team, Bradley complicated matters by winning the BMW Championship on Sunday at Castle Pines Golf Club outside Denver.

Bradley barely squeaked into the second PGA Tour playoff event in the final No. 50 position after last week's FedEx St. Jude Championship. He'll now head into this week's season-ending TOUR Championship at No. 4 in the standings, with a real chance to win the FedEx Cup.

The victory moved him back to No. 11 in the world rankings and, of more immediate importance, ninth in the U.S. Presidents Cup standings. That means he very likely will be one of Jim Furyk's six captain's picks for Royal Montreal when the team is completed a week from Tuesday.

And, at age 38 and winning his seventh career title, Bradley planted an early flag -- an American flag, of course -- to be a dual part of the 12-man U.S. Ryder Cup team next year at Bethpage Black. 

"I would love to be a playing captain," Bradley told reporters at Castle Pines. "I know it's never -- no one has really had the opportunity that I've had. I think you could have given Phil [Mickelson] or Tiger [Woods] a chance to be captain at my age and they would have played on the teams. But it's never really had a chance to happen.

"It's going to be really hard for me to make that team, but if I make the team, I'll play. I don't see myself being a captain's pick. But I'll be proud to just be the captain." 

Just like with the Presidents Cup, the top six in points will make the Ryder Cup team -- unless they amend the qualification process in the next year.

This was almost unthinkable just last week. Bradley had been having a so-so season with only two top-10s all year and none since May. They were both runners-up, at the Sony and Charles Schwab, but still. Bradley also needed a Tom Kim implosion last week at Memphis -- a bogey-double-double finish -- just to get to the BMW.

Now, he's in the TOUR Championship and almost surely playing on the Presidents Cup team.

"Honestly … I'm in a bit of a state of shock because there was a time a week ago about this time that I didn't think I was going to be coming here," Bradley said. "I had to have a lot of magical things happen for me to just play in this tournament, and when I got here, I was so grateful just to be here. I played with a real sense of calm all week, which is not the norm for me.

For the record, Bradley shot 12-under to win by one over Ludvig Aberg, Sam Burns and Adam Scott.

The 30 players for this week's TOUR Championship are set, as are the automatic qualifiers for the U.S. and International Presidents Cup teams. Let's break it down.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

At the beginning of the year, the following golfers would not have been expected to reach the TOUR Championship. They have either established themselves as quality players or reinforced that position.

Adam Scott
Scott is not readily considered as one of the great players of the past quarter-century. But the fact that he has played at such a high level for so long and continues to do so is remarkable.

Aaron Rai
Rai has been one of the stars of the summer, breaking through for his first Tour win at the Wyndham. He now is stunningly ranked in the top-25 in the world. He tied for 43rd at the BMW.

Byeong Hun An
After being forced back to the Korn Ferry Tour last year at age 31, An had his best season on the PGA Tour. Granted, it was heavily front-loaded, but he built up so many points that he was never in doubt of reaching East Lake. He tied for 13th at the BMW.

Taylor Pendrith
Earlier this year, Pendrith had trouble just playing four rounds, missing five cuts in a six-tournament span. Weeks later, he won the Byron Nelson, then ran off eight top-25s the rest of the season. He almost surely will be a Presidents Cup captain's pick for the Internationals. Pendrith tied for 13th at the BMW.

Tom Hoge
Hoge is a decent enough player who piles up top-25s but not many top-10s. It was enough to get him to East Lake after he missed last year. He tied for 13th at the BMW.

Billy Horschel
Horschel's career was trending downward -- no, make that plummeting downward. Then he swallowed his pride to play -- and win -- an alternate-field event in the Dominican. Soon after, he tied for eighth at the PGA Championship and then was co-runner-up at the Open Championship. Horschel tied for 22nd a the BMW.
 
Matthieu Pavon
Pavon was the first breakout player among the 10 DP World Tour grads, winning the Farmers at Torrey Pines in January. He also had a great Masters (T12) and U.S. Open (solo 5th). But the Open was his last top-10 and he's limped into East Lake. Still, he made it. The Frenchman tied for 33rd at the BMW.
 
Christiaan Bezuidenhout
Perhaps the most unlikely and unknown among the top 30, the South African has quietly but deliberately had a very good year. He began with a runner-up to Nick Dunlap at the Amex and then added two more top-10s and 11 more top-25s. Bezuidenhout tied for 33rd at the BMW. 

For the following players, it certainly is viewed as unexpected or even disappointing that they didn't finish in the top 30.

Max Homa
Homa has fallen from No. 7 in the world at the beginning of the year to No. 23 now. He tied for 33rd at the BMW.

Jason Day
Day had an incredible bounceback season a year ago and just missed East Lake this year. He tied for 33rd at the BMW, falling from 25th in the FedEx point standings to 33rd.

Brian Harman
As mentioned earlier, Harman imploded on the final hole on Sunday, leaving a bitter end to his season. He finished solo 25th at the BMW, falling from 29th in points to 31st.

Matt Fitzpatrick
In fairness, Fitzpatrick has had injury issues all year. He tied for 28th at the BMW,

Cameron Young
Young remains a perplexing figure, one with immense talent but who is still looking for his first PGA Tour win. He tied for 43rd at the BMW.

Will Zalatoris
Zalatoris probably doesn't belong with these guys because he was coming off back surgery. But he was a top player beforehand. Actually, just making it to No. 38 in points in his return could be viewed as a success. He even had a good BMW with a tie for 13th.

Alex Noren
Noren was not a disappointment from the start of the season but from about an hour before the BMW ended. With the top-30 in his grasp, he finished bogey-bogey-bogey to close with a 75 and tie for ninth, leaving him 37th in points. If there was some solace for Noren – and it's not much at this moment – he moved back into the top-50 in the world rankings at No. 50. He hadn't been that high since April 2023.

FedExCup Standings

Four players moved into the top 30 after the BMW, and that's more than most years. Bradley, Scott, Tommy Fleetwood (T5 at the BMW) and Chris Kirk (T9) will head to East Lake, while Brian Harman (T25), Denny McCarthy (T26), Jason Day (T33) and Davis Thompson (T41) will head home.

The 44-year-old Scott made a miraculous push to get into the top 30, as he was not much ahead of Bradley, beginning the week at No. 41. And to even get to that point, he had to come alive in his three previous starts -- co-runner-up at the Scottish Open, T10 at the Open Championship and T18 at the St. Jude. He's soared to No. 21 in the world, his highest standing in three and a half years.

For Kirk, it was perhaps poetic justice, as last year just one player was bounced from the top 30 at the BMW -- and it was him. 

All Harman needed on No. 18 on Sunday was a par. Instead, he double-bogeyed, letting Justin Thomas (T39 at the BMW) slip through to East Lake.

Presidents Cup

U.S. Team Qualifiers: Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay, Sahith Theegala
International Team Qualifiers: Hideki Matsuyama, Sungjae Im, Adam Scott, Tom Kim, Jason Day, Byeong Hun An

We'll surely see Burns, Akshay Bhatia and Tony Finau on the team.  After that, it gets dicey for captain Furyk. A few months ago, Homa seemed a shoo-in. But he has cratered so far and fast that he won't be in the TOUR Championship. Other possibilities are Russell Henley, Harman, Horschel and maybe Young. And then there's Thomas, who was such a lightning rod when last year's Ryder Cup captain's picks were made.

For the Internationals, expect Canada's Mike Weir to pick at least two countrymen for Royal Montreal, probably Corey Conners and Pendrith. Min Woo Lee, Cam Davis, Bezuidenhout and Si Woo Kim are also in the mix, along with Canadians Adam Hadwin, Nick Taylor and maybe Mackenzie Hughes.