US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley admitted he would never get over the disappointment of the loss at Bethpage Black.
Speaking at a media event for next year's Traveler's Championship - the tournament he won for the second time in 2025 - Bradley spoke about the lingering pain of America's defeat in New York and his own anguish at missing out on the team, having concluded beforehand that he couldn't combine the jobs of captaining and playing.
The hosts trailed 11.5 to 4.5 after a dismal run of form in both foursomes and fourballs before almost mounting an unprecedented and improbable comeback in the Singles on Sunday. Bradley's team took 8.5 of the 12 points on offer on Sunday, but it wasn't enough as Shane Lowry's birdie putt to halve his match with Russell Henley ensuring that Europe would retain the Cup.
"You win, it's glory for a lifetime," Bradley said. "You lose, it's 'I'm going to have to sit with this for the rest of my life'.
"There's no part of me that thinks I'll ever get over this."
Prior to the tournament, there was much speculation over whether the 39-year-old Bradley - who finished 11th of the US Ryder Cup standings - would pick himself on the team, thereby becoming the first playing Ryder Cup captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963.
The 2011 PGA Champion had been a member of the 2012 and 2014 US teams but was controversially overlooked for selection in Rome in 2023, which formed part of the context for the PGA of America's surprise decision to appoint him captain for 2025.
In the end, Bradley opted against picking himself, a decision which he still believes was correct.
"Since the Ryder Cup to now has been one of the toughest times in my life," Bradley said. "I really would enjoy playing in one more. I don't know if I'll get the chance.
"I'll forever wonder and wish that I had a chance to play there. The first practice day, I was out on the tee, and I was watching the guys walk down the fairway all together, and I said: 'I wish I was playing. That's what it's all about. I'm missing out.'
"By the second or third day I was like 'It's a good thing I'm not playing, because I was so physically exhausted.... Good thing I didn't do it, because it would have been bad. I just didn't think I could do both jobs."
Bradley, renowned for his passion for the event, expressed the hope that he would get the chance to play in the team again. The former PGA champion has been involved in three Ryder Cups, finishing on the losing side on every occasion.
"This effing event has been so brutal to me. I don't know if I want to play. No, I do.
"It's such a weird thing to love something so much that just doesn't give you anything."
