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Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior Writer
U.S. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley is going to this month’s Presidents Cup as a competitor after he was one of Jim Furyk‘s six captain’s picks announced on Tuesday.
Bradley, who will lead the U.S. team in next year’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in New York, had already been named a vice captain for the Presidents Cup. He’ll now only participate as a golfer; Furyk said a new vice captain will be chosen to replace him.
Sam Burns, Russell Henley, Brian Harman, Max Homa and Tony Finau were also captain’s picks.
International team captain Mike Weir’s six picks included three Canadians, Corey Conners, Taylor Pendrith and Mackenzie Hughes, along with South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout, South Korea’s Si Woo Kim and Australia’s Min Woo Lee.
The Presidents Cup will be played Sept. 26-29 at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Canada.
Furyk said Bradley’s performance in the FedEx Cup playoffs — he won the BMW Championship to reach the Tour Championship — helped his cause.
“Getting it done when you have to is a good thing,” Furyk said. “A guy that grinded it out and came up in big moments here at the end of the season, and that’s what you want on your team.”
Harman, the 2023 Open Championship winner, and Homa, a six-time winner on the PGA Tour, were somewhat surprising choices given their recent form. Homa went 4-0 in his Presidents Cup debut in 2022; Harman was 2-2 at last year’s Ryder Cup in Rome and is considered a great matchplay competitor.
“I think he’s a great teammate,” Furyk said of Homa. “I think he plays well in partnerships. It’s his personality. I don’t think it’s popularity, he’s kind of the glue. He’s an emotional leader on and off the golf course.”
World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay and Sahtith Theegala were automatic qualifiers for the U.S. team.
Each of the top 12 golfers in the U.S. points standings made the squad.
Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, South Korea’s Sungjae Im, Tom Kim and Byeong Hun An and Australia’s Adam Scott and Jason Day qualified for the International squad.
Some of the most notable omissions left off the U.S. team include Justin Thomas, Billy Horschel, Sahith Theegala and Chris Kirk.
Thomas had a 10-3-2 record in the past three Presidents Cup.
“I think when you look at it, there’s about 16 or 18 guys that I’d love to have on this team,” Furyk said. “At the end of the day, I love JT. I probably know him as well or better than any members of my team. Again, great record and feisty and [an] emotional leader.
“Just kind of trying to put the puzzle pieces together and find the right 12 to take to Montreal. Tough, tough. He’s a great team room guy, and he’s going to play on a ton of these teams in the future as well, and one day he’s going to be a captain, and a great one.”
Weir also considered Canadians Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin, but elected to take Hughes, who is considered one of the best putters on tour.
“I can’t tell you how tough those calls were to those guys,” Weir said. “I respect those guys. I love those guys. And they’re like brothers-they’re Canadians.”
The U.S. team has dominated the Presidents Cup since its inception in 1994, winning 12 of 14 matches and tying once. The U.S. won the most recent match 17½-12½ at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2022.
“No doubt, they’re a strong bunch,” Weir said of the U.S. team. “You know, golf is golf. Our guys believe that we can win. Match play is different. It’s a completely different animal. I believe in these guys, and I totally believe that they’re going to perform well.”