Keegan Bradley reveals his regrets over the PGA Championship, creating enemies

This week the 2025 PGA Tour season continues in Hawaii at the Sony Open. With fewer top names in the game, Team USA Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley wants to take advantage. He had a very solid T15 finish at the Sentry in Maui last week. Bradley generally doesn’t play well there, so he’ll try to bring that momentum to mainland Hawaii.

On the eve of the tournament’s tee-off, Bradley discussed a variety of topics, including the state of his game, his goals for 2025 and the upcoming Ryder Cup. Perhaps the most interesting part of his press conference concerned Bradley’s regrets and his players today.

“I regret a lot of things at the start of my career. “I regret the process wasn’t more fun…won the PGA Championship and the trophy was in my closet,” Bradley said candidly. “I was already on the next step and I didn’t take the time to pursue many relationships… But I felt like everyone was my enemy. I felt like it was me against the world.”

Relationships between athletes have seemingly changed across all sports over the past few decades. Gone are the days when competitors were bitter rivals until the end and the chance of becoming friends was off the table.

Bradley expressed regret for adopting the old mentality early in his career.

“That was my thought process. I can’t be friends with the guy I’m playing against. Things would always come to mind that they thought I was terrible or whatever, they made it up and I believed it. But these guys have a different outlook on life.”

“It’s really hard for Scottie Scheffler and Xander (Schauffele), the best players in the world, to be that good and that nice at something. You have to have such a killer instinct to be the best in the world at golf or business and these guys are the nicest and friendliest – Xander is such a laid back guy and then you put him on the golf course and he’s just a Murderer.”

NBA players have been criticized in recent years for developing friendships on and off the court. This was taboo in the 1980s. But maybe Bradley is right. As long as the athletes are doing their best on the ropes, why put yourself in that state of mind?

Keegan Bradley put it in perspective perfectly.

“They’re going to have a much happier life out here than the guys in the ’80s did, than I did.”