'If You're Not In The Top Six You Can't Expect To Be On The Team' - Keegan Bradley Warns Team USA Hopefuls

The race for Ryder Cup spots is heading down the stretch, and Team USA captain Keegan Bradley has warned his players not to take anything for granted.

Scottie Scheffler is the only American to book his spot in the team for Bethpage Black so far, with Xander Schauffele and JJ Spaun filling out the top three and more than likely to qualify.

Bryson DeChambeau is in fifth but is certain to get a pick even if he doesn't finish in the top six, but outside of that it's wide open in terms of selections.

Bradley himself is ninth but winning the Travelers Championship made it an easier decision for him to be a playing captain, especially with question marks over other options.

And given the nature of just how open it is, Bradley warned that only by finishing in the top six can players ensure they'll make it to New York to take on the Europeans.

Bradley was on the wrong end of things in 2023 as he finished 11th in the USA Ryder Cup standings but failed to make Zach Johnson's team - with that now infamous phone call recorded by the Netflix Full Swing cameras.

Now on the other side of things, Bradley told the Fore Play podcast that he knows exactly how he'll handle making those bad news calls, but warned that anyone outside the top six needs to expect the worst.

"I've been on like a million of these calls so I know exactly how I'll do it," Bradley told the Fore Play podcast. "I know how I would want it to be done.

"The simple fact of this is if you're not in the top six you can't expect to be on the team. When I wasn't in the top six for Zach at Rome I totally understood not getting picked.

"You cannot expect to be on the team if you don't finish in the top six - even if you're seventh.

"When you get the call that you're not on the team and you're not in that top six - I wasn't mad at Zach - I got it."

There are some big names still languishing well outside the top six - Jordan Spieth being a prime example, while Patrick Reed has won in LIV Golf this year while both he and Brooks Koepka have Ryder Cup experience and have won at Bethpage.

So for a captain as young as Bradley, who also has to decide whether he's going to play or not, it looks like a tough task with those six picks he has to make.

Current US Ryder Cup standings

Other notable names further down the standings are...

• 17. Cameron Young
• 20. Tony Finau
• 22. Wyndham Clark
• 23. Akshay Bhatia
• 25. Jordan Spieth
• 36. Patrick Reed
• 38. Max Homa
• 44. Rickie Fowler
• 72. Brooks Koepka