Ryder Cup: Keegan Bradley 'heartbroken' by Team USA defeat but open to future captaincy despite post-Bethpage struggles

Keegan Bradley insists he would welcome the opportunity to captain Team USA again at the next Ryder Cup, despite still being "heartbroken" from their home loss to Team Europe at Bethpage Black.

Bradley elected against naming himself as a playing captain for last year's contest at New York, where he became the first captain - from either team - to suffer a home Ryder Cup team defeat since 2012.

The 39-year-old former major champion has missed the cut three times in his five starts this year and finished no higher than tied-29th, with Bradley struggling to adjust back to just having to think about playing duties rather than captaincy.

"Listen, it [post-Ryder Cup] has been a little difficult," Bradley told reporters after a second-round 66 at The Players, an 11-shot improvement on his opening round. "I'm still heartbroken from the Ryder Cup.

"Trying my best to separate myself and move on, but it's hard. I think about it a lot. I think about the guys a lot and I'm still in the process of getting past all that."

Bradley was still playing regularly on the PGA Tour in the build-up to the Ryder Cup, winning the Travelers Championship last June and reaching the season-ending Tour Championship to increase the possibility of being the first playing-captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963.

Captaincy came two years after narrowly missing out on a captain's pick for the 2023 defeat in Rome, with Bradley now having to refocus on the challenge of qualifying for future Team USA sides.

"Unless you're a captain of the Ryder Cup team you just have no idea what goes into it and the emotional toll that it takes on you," Bradley added. "I think like a lot of guys that do it, they're basically done playing.

"I'm the first person to have to sort of deal with this, to get back out there, try to be one of the best players in the world and make the next team.

"I'm still navigating how to do that, but it's on my mind."

Luke Donald has masterminded Team Europe to back-to-back victories and has been handed a historic third stint for the 2027 contest at Adare Manor, where he will look to become the first captain ever to win three consecutive Ryder Cups.

The PGA of America has yet to announce who will lead Team USA in the centenary edition, with Tiger Woods the favourite to succeed Bradley but yet to confirm whether he is interested in the role.

"I mean, yeah, sure, I would [want to captain again], but I don't know if that's in the cards," Bradley admitted. "I think any Ryder Cup captain that loses would like to do it again, I would imagine, but that's not up to me.

"I think that the distraction of me playing…maybe playing isn't really what the position is about. So who knows in the future."