Kevin Kisner named U.S. Ryder Cup vice captain

Kevin is a great addition to our leadership group and will be a trusted voice throughout the coming months and this year’s Ryder Cup,” U.S. Captain Keegan Bradley said in a statement. “His extensive match-play success and strong relationships make him a perfect fit. I look forward to working with him closely as we get ready for Bethpage Black.”

“He cultivated all these relationships with everybody. They love Kevin,” Bradley added at the Sony Open in Hawaii. “Kevin is a guy’s guy, bleeds red, white and blue, is a proper locker room guy. Like he’s not going to be patting you on the back every time. He’s going to mess with you, joke around with you, but also keep it very light.

“What I envy most about Kevin is his interactions with the players, his insight to certain players’ personalities, his competitiveness, but really just what happens if Kevin walked into this room right now. He changes the vibe. When you’re in a room with all these Ryder Cup players and everyone is nervous, you need guys like Kevin.”

Kisner won the 2019 World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play and finished runner-up at the same event in 2018 and 2022.

His last victory came at the 2021 Wyndham Championship, where he won in a six-man playoff, and he has twice played in the Presidents Cup (2017, 2022).

He putted well on his way to compiling a 2-0-2 record in 2017, and while he went 0-2-1 in 2022, he proved a light-hearted presence in the U.S. team room.

He has never played in the Ryder Cup.

The U.S. is coming off a 16.5-11.5 loss at the Ryder Cup in Rome, after which European star Rory McIlroy vowed that his team would win it again this year.

Winning a Ryder Cup on the road, he noted, is the toughest task in golf. No team has done it since Europe’s so-called “Miracle at Medinah” squad, which overcame a four-point deficit on the final day to prevail 14.5-13.5 in 2012.