Cameron Young listed three reasons why Keegan Bradley should select him for America’s Ryder Cup team.
We are not far away from discovering the captain’s picks for the 2025 Ryder Cup in New York. We know all six of the automatic qualifiers for Team USA, which include Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau, and only one automatic place remains for Europe, with Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose among those to have secured their spot.
The rest of the players are making their final appeals to captains Luke Donald and Keegan Bradley, who have big decisions ahead of them. At the Tour Championship, Cameron Young listed three reasons to reporters for why he should be selected.
Cameron Young’s three reasons why he should be picked for the Ryder Cup
Young was focused on making the Ryder Cup before the playoffs began. Since then, he won for the first time on the PGA Tour at the Wyndham Championship, finished fifth at the FedEx St. Jude, won by Justin Rose, and 11th at the BMW Championship.
He has been one of the most in-form players in golf, and he listed that as a reason he should be selected. He said, “Recent form is a pretty hard one to deny”.
The Ryder Cup will be played at Bethpage Black Golf Course, Young’s home course. He said, “It’s my home state, it’s a golf course I love.” It’s a course he’s been dominant at too.
As a 20-year-old amateur, Young made history at Bethpage by becoming the first amateur to win the New York State Open. He finished with a final-round seven-under 64, tying the course record at the time.
His final point: he has a great major record. He said. “It’s almost exclusively a major championship venue, and my major record is pretty good.”
Young has never won a major, but has achieved a top-10 finish at each of the four championships. He finished fourth at the U.S. Open this year, was one shot back of a playoff hole at the 2022 PGA Championship, and finished second at the 2022 Open Championship.
He has a history of performing well when the stakes are highest, and there’s no higher stakes than this Ryder Cup for America.
Cameron Young’s competition for Ryder Cup selection
Bradley has a brutally tough decision on his hands for who will make up the back end of his Ryder Cup team. Europe is all but decided, and are expected to bring more-or-less the same group that humiliated America in Rome, but the USA’s team could be full of rookies.
His first decision: Should Bradley pick himself as playing captain? He’s firmly within the top 12 of American players in 2025, and could select himself to become the first playing captain in over half a century.
Rory McIlroy said being a playing captain isn’t possible. Bradley has to decide that for himself. If he chooses not to, that opens up a spot for someone like Young.
Young has risen to 14th in the standings due to his performances in recent weeks. Bradley has said that anyone outside the top six cannot expect to be picked for the Ryder Cup, hinting at his willingness to look further down the standings at someone like Young.
| U.S. Rank | Qualified Player |
| 1 | Scottie Scheffler |
| 2 | J.J. Spaun |
| 3 | Xander Schauffele |
| 4 | Russell Henley |
| 5 | Harris English |
| 6 | Bryson DeChambeau |
Andrew Novak has also put himself into contention this season. He entered the Tour Championship 13th, and could argue he is next in line to be selected if Bradley chooses not to play.
Chris Gotterup has shown form of late, beating McIlroy at the Genesis Scottish Open. As has Sam Burns, 16th in the rankings with 10 top-25 finishes, and a fourth-place finish at the BMW recently.
Young has made his case to Bradley, but there’s a long line of Americans fighting for a ticket to New York.