5 major takeaways from Keegan Bradley and Luke Donald’s latest Ryder Cup presser ft. LIV golfers’ update

Team US captain Keegan Bradley and Europe's captain Luke Donald attended a Ryder Cup press conference on Tuesday, October 8. Both captains shed light on various questions regarding the selection criteria, the inclusion of LIV Golfers, and other issues.

The 2025 Ryder Cup will be played at Bethpage Black Course, Bethpage State Park, Farmingdale, New York, from September 25 to 28 next year. While reigning champion Europe's captain Donald is set to don the same role again, Keegan Bradley has been appointed as the US skipper this time.

Here's a look at three takeaways from the Ryder Cup press conference.

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5 major takeaways from Keegan Bradley and Luke Donald’s latest Ryder Cup press conference

1) Tough road for Sergio Garcia's return

The likes of Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton are eyeing a Ryder Cup spot and playing on the DP World Tour during their off-season from the LIV Golf circuit. However, Sergio Garcia, who had expressed his intention of making a comeback, hasn't competed in any of the events.

The reason behind Garcia's unavailability is that he is no longer a member of the European Tour. Last year, he resigned from the Tour to avoid the fines levied on him and other defectors.

On Tuesday, Donald made it clear that the 2017 Masters champion would have to follow the rules to make it to the biennial event.

"Obviously he resigned his membership a couple years ago, " Donald said. "But we have had some chats. He's considering rejoining. He'd have to follow all the rules and regulations like everyone else, and if he does that, again, he will be eligible to partake in the Ryder Cup."

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2) Europe makes the qualification process simpler

For the last Ryder Cup, the qualification process was divided into a European Points List and a World Points List, which was a bit complex. However, this time, Team Europe has a simpler qualification process.

"Same six automatic qualifiers," Luke Donald said on Tuesday. "We've streamlined that into one list now, instead of two that it was previously. I think it makes it a little more simpler for fans and the viewers to understand."

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3) Will Keegan Bradley make it into the team as playing captain?

Since becoming team US captain, Keegan Bradley won the BMW Championship and then had an impressive showing at the Presidents Cup. However, he is still not considering becoming the first playing captain at the Ryder Cup since 1963.

"As for me to play, it's always a goal of mine to play on the Ryder Cup teams," he said. "It's so far off now that I'm not going to worry about it."

He added that if he were on the points list, he would consider competing as a playing captain.

"But I'm focused now on being the captain of the team and that's it," he added.

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4) Home advantage has decreased over the years

Keegan Bradley claimed that the home advantage has diminished over the years, and home teams have less say in course setup than ever before.

"I remember my first couple, I think the home team had a pretty serious say in the course setup and where the tees were," he said.

"We lose in the United States, I think it's three or four months before the tournament, we have no control. We have no control of the pin positions or where the tees are. We have a small little role in that," he added.

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5) Views on picking LIV Golf players as captain's picks

Luke Donald clarified that the DP World Tour's policy would remain the same regarding the LIV Golf players as it was in Rome.

"You have to be a Member of The European Tour and born in Europe," he said. "If you fulfill the regulations and the rules that the DP World Tour set, then you're eligible. There's a bunch of LIV guys that play on LIV that they are eligible now, so I can pick them at will."

US captain Keegan Bradley said he was going to pick the 12 best players, irrespective of the circuits.

"If we feel like there's a few guys there, one guy, two guys, whatever it is, then we're going to do that," he added. "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."

For the uninitiated, Brooks Koepka was the only LIV Golf pro in the event last year. He was one of six picks by US captain Zach Johnson.