Keegan Bradley puts an emotional exclamation point on the USA’s victory on the first day of the Presidents Cup

MONTREAL — Keegan Bradley celebrated his birdie putt on the 18th hole as if it would win him a tournament. He pumped his fist, raised his arms and chest-bumped his playing partner, Wyndham Clark.

It was 10 years of frustration and anticipation that led to this emotion, and even though it simply decided a game and gave the United States a 5-0 lead over the international team in the Presidents Cup, it also showed how much that means Bradley.

The 38-year-old Bradley, who was left out of last year’s U.S. Ryder Cup team, is the oldest player on that U.S. Presidents Cup team and was one of captain Jim Furyk’s favorites after originally starting as an alternate this week Captain was intended.

He was surprisingly elected captain of the 2025 US Ryder Cup in July.

Bradley has already had an emotional week.

“I really took it for granted having Phil (Mickelson) as my partner every year,” Bradley said of his previous team experiences from 2012 to 2014. “What an incredible thing for a young player like me. I got to go out and play with one of the greatest players to ever touch a golf club, and I kind of became – it was a norm for me.

“I didn’t have to go through the first week of who my partner is, what ball I’m going to hit, whether I’m going to play this game, who it’s going to be with. I just had to show up and play. I’m really grateful to Phil for that.”

Bradley competed in two Ryder Cups and a Presidents Cup before this week. In each of the nine games he played with a teammate (twelve in total), Mickelson was his partner.

They took a 3-0 lead in Madinah in 2012, the year the U.S. blew a 10-6 lead and lost painfully, 14½ to 13½. A year later, the U.S. won the Presidents Cup at Muirfield Village and played four team games together, finishing 2-1-1. Then, in 2014, at the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles – where Mickelson went on to face captain Tom Watson – the two tied 1-1.

Bradley lost in singles in each of those cups, but was 6-2-1 with Mickelson as his partner.

“I think I kind of took it for granted that I played with one of the best players to ever play a club for so many years,” said Bradley, who will miss Friday’s foursome training session. “But I also had a lot of fun being out there. Phil was largely responsible for our group, so it was fun to go out there and kind of – I have a slightly different role to play.

“I haven’t played much with Wyndham and now I know why he’s so good. He hits a lot of good shots and makes a lot of putts.

“But I made a putt on one of the par-3 holes and I just can’t control myself. I’m going crazy. Then, all right, bro, I need to take a second and breathe before you hit the next shot.

“I always feel like I’m always trying to suppress my emotions on the golf course, and what I love about this tournament is that you can let them out.”

Bradley started quickly and watched the first hole, giving him and Clark a 1-1 lead over Taylor Pendrith and Christiaan Bezuidenhout. They went up two holes on the seventh hole, but lost the next hole and fought hard until the end, but never lost.

With a birdie on the 18th hole, Bradley led the final game on the course and finished the day 5-0 for the Americans.

“I just had so much fun out there today,” he said. “I really enjoy being out here with these guys. On the 17th or 18th I told Wyndham how much I missed being out here doing this.

“What a great day for the United States, but we still have a long way to go.”