‘Nothing to do with equipment’: JJ Spaun reveals why he was in the Ryder Cup

The 2025 season was a big one for PGA Tour veteran JJ Spaun. He captured his first major by winning the US Open at Oakmont. Then, as a rookie at the 2025 Ryder Cup, Spaun’s stellar play was one of the few highlights from the US team’s devastating 15-13 loss to Bethpage Black.

One of the biggest controversies to emerge from the Ryder Cup (which did not involve rowdy fans) was why Spaun was benched for both the Friday and Saturday foursomes matches, which saw the European team dominate the Americans.

While some have suggested that captain Keegan Bradley left Spaun on the bench because of his golf ball, that appears not to be the case. Spaun revealed the real reason he only played three games at Bethpage Black in a recent podcast appearance.

But that’s not all. He also claimed that the entire team wanted Bradley to be captain, and that Bradley deserves to be captain again, but maybe not in 2027.

Spaun explains why he was left out of the Ryder Cup foursomes

The first two days of the 2025 Ryder Cup were a story of European domination, but it was the foursomes sessions where they ran up the score.

Europe defeated the US 3-1 in both foursomes sessions on Friday and Saturday mornings, making a Sunday comeback all but impossible (although the Americans almost pulled it off).

Spaun, who finished second in the U.S. Ryder Cup rankings and is in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking, was on the bench for both matches.

When he played great despite losing in Friday’s four-ball match and went on to win his four-ball matches on Saturday and the singles matches on Sunday, many wondered why Bradley didn’t have Spaun play in four-ball.

In an appearance on Trey Wingo’s Straight Facts Homie! In the podcast after the Ryder Cup, Colt Knost claimed that Spaun knew he would not be playing foursomes at Bethpage because he was the only member of the team playing a Srixon golf ball.

But inside his own recent guest spot on Wingo’s podcastSpaun revealed that he was surprised he wasn’t playing foursomes, and that Bradley’s real reasons boiled down to the fact that he wanted experienced Ryder Cuppers in those matches.

“Maybe a little,” Spaun said, admitting he was surprised to be sitting on the bench at Bethpage. “I wasn’t sure what format I was going to start in. I spoke to Keegan [Bradley] a few weeks earlier, and he was adamant about having a pretty veteran-heavy lineup in the first match, which consisted of foursomes.

He continued, explaining that his equipment was not the culprit:

“So it had nothing to do with how I played, what equipment I played with,” Spaun said. “He wanted to put guys first who have been in that arena and had success, and have the experience to get my feet wet in four balls, which is probably an easier format, I think, appropriately.”

That is his explanation for not playing Friday fours. But Spaun is less sure why he was left out again when Bradley made his combinations for Saturday’s foursomes matches, which included challenging the team of Collin Morikawa and Harris English again after they were battered during Friday’s session.

“But who knows? I don’t know what the thought process was for Saturday’s games, but I think Keegan didn’t want to panic and change things, just assume the batting line-up would get there, and eventually get things turned around,” Spaun told Wingo. “I thought there would be a little change, whether it was someone else – I think Cam [Young] was the only one who registered for the foursomes on Saturday, that might have been different.”

Ultimately, Spaun argued that line-up changes would not have made a difference as the entire European team played incredibly well on Friday and Saturday, especially on the greens.

“Honestly, the European team played so well. They made great moves. They shot eight under par on alternating shots, which is so hard to do.”

He used his loss next to Scottie Scheffler in the four-ball on Friday as an example, explaining that at one point he and Scheffler made five consecutive birdies … and didn’t win a hole.

“It came down to the putting… they beat us outright on Friday and Saturday and unfortunately we were just too far behind on Sunday.”

Spaun says the US team wanted Keegan Bradley to play in the Ryder Cup

Another hot topic in Spaun’s interview with Wingo was Captain Bradley. The biggest question leading up to the event was whether Bradley would use one of his captain’s picks on himself and play on the team in addition to his captaincy role.

Ultimately, Bradley decided it was best to focus on his duties as captain, despite being one of the best American players.

But that wasn’t what the players on the American team wanted. According to Spaun, they tried to convince Bradley to choose himself.

“He was put in a difficult situation. The whole team really believed that he should have been in the team. And we almost tried to talk him into it,” Spaun revealed.

And it came down to the wire before Bradley decided to go against their wishes.

“It was very close before he had to make choices. He thought about it so long until he had to finalize the line-up. We all said, ‘If you weren’t the captain and you’re sitting here number 10 in the world, will that captain take you?’ Of course, 100% of the time,” Spaun said.

Spaun also said he has so much respect for Keegan because he “tripled the amount of work” as normal captains, due to the fact he was still playing and competing at a high level on the PGA Tour.

But should Bradley become captain again? When Wingo Spaun asked that question, he said: ‘I think [Bradley] deserves another chance,” but suggested the 2027 Ryder Cup at Adare Manor might not be the right time.

“I think it would be the ultimate redemption if he continued playing [to the 2027 U.S. Ryder Cup team]played and maybe two years later he was captain and won,” Spaun imagined. “That would be the ultimate comeback.”

Spaun feared ‘letting his teammates down’ at the Ryder Cup

Another topic of conversation during Spaun’s performance was what the experience was like playing in his first Ryder Cup.

He admitted that from the moment Bradley told him he would be in the team after his US Open victory, the Ryder Cup dominated Spaun’s thoughts and he experienced a huge amount of stress.

“Okay, so that was me stressed for the Ryder Cup… From that moment on all I could think about was the Ryder Cup: how am I going to perform, am I ready? Can I handle this? To be honest, there was so much stress leading up to it. I tried to put it in the back of my mind… but it took up so much of my mental space… the Ryder Cup was all I could think about,” Spaun explains. “I was afraid I wouldn’t play well because I have no problem with playing poorly and letting myself down. But here I am on the Ryder Cup team and you can let down your teammates, your country, your captains, and I’m like, ‘I don’t know if I’m ready for this.’

So how did he come to play so well? It turns out that Bradley and teammate Justin Thomas spoke to him when he arrived at Bethpage, explaining that he earned his spot on the team and reminding Spaun that he and Scheffler were the only players on the U.S. team to have won the majors in 2025.

Despite the pep talk, Spaun said he felt a lot of nerves when it came time to wrap up the match.

“Yes, I was very nervous on the first tee. I was literally nervous on every shot.” But after his first match, a defeat, he ‘calmed down’.

Ultimately, Spaun finished with a 2-1-0 record and nearly helped the US pull off a historic comeback on Sunday. But he also secured a spot on future American teams, where it would be unwise to ban him from games.

You can watch Spaun’s full performance on the Straight Facts Homie! Podcast here.

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