‘Horrifying’: Why Keegan Bradley is ‘afraid’ of trash talk at Skins Game

The Skins Game returns this week for the first time since 2008. While the player lineup doesn’t match that of the first edition from 1983 (with Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player), there is one wrinkle that should add some interest: the Ryder Cup rivalry.

Keegan Bradley, the 2025 US Ryder Cup captain, will compete for the first time since his team’s devastating defeat at Bethpage Black. And the two European players most responsible for his defeat will be his competitors.

That prompted Bradley to joke about his fear that trash talk from his European masters could lead to him “curling up in a ball” during a press conference promoting the event.

Here’s what you need to know.

Skins Game returns with Ryder Cup line-up

For the first time in nearly two decades, golf fans will be able to watch top professionals play a big-money skins game live on TV after Thanksgiving this year. The Capitol One Skins Game, as it is officially known, begins Friday, November 28 at 9:00 AM ET.

Xander Schauffele, one of his 2025 Ryder Cup players, will join Bradley. European Ryder Cup stars Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowry, who replaces the injured Justin Thomas, complete the four-player field.

The competition takes place at Panther National in Florida, designed by Thomas and Jack Nicklaus, and features a traditional skins format plus a ‘reverse wallet’, in which all players start with $1 million and contribute to the pots to try to take each other’s money.

While all four participants are popular players, the main event could ultimately be the ongoing Ryder Cup hostilities. At least that was the main topic on the players’ minds leading up to the event.

Bradley, Lowry preview Skins Game trash talk

On Thursday, competitors took part in a virtual pre-match press conference, and statements about the Ryder Cup were at the forefront.

That’s not surprising, given what happened at Bethpage in September. Bradley’s American team wasn’t just defeated by the Europeans on home soil. They did this in a chaotic atmosphere in which European players were harassed by unruly fans.

“I don’t want 50,000 New Yorkers in my ear,” Lowry joked during the press conference.

Lowry, who secured the final half-point Europe needed to retain the Ryder Cup at Bethpage, was also quick to taunt Bradley over his team’s loss.

“Keegan already paid me and Tommy [Fleetwood] extra not to talk about the Ryder Cup,” Lowry said.

But Bradley’s fear of bullshit is not aimed at Lowry, but at Fleetwood who keeps Keegan awake at night. Fleetwood is one of golf’s quintessential nice guys, and Bradley admitted that seeing trash talk might destroy him.

“If Tommy said shit to me in a serious way, I would curl up in a ball. I would be so scared,” Bradley joked. “That would be terrible.”

But there will be one big difference between the Skins Game and the Ryder Cup: instead of riding as captain, Bradley will let his clubs do the talking at Panther National.

“On Friday I don’t have a walkie-talkie in my hand, I have a golf club,” Bradley said. “This is my chance to catch those two maniacs down there.”

You can watch the Capitol One Skins Game 2025 on Friday via Amazon Prime.

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