Bradley filled out his 12-man roster for next month's clash with Europe on Wednesday with six captain's picks -- and he decided not to include himself.
He had considered becoming the first playing captain of the Ryder Cup since Arnold Palmer in 1963 at East Lake.
Instead, Bradley went with a pair of Ryder Cup new boys -- New York native Cameron Young and Ben Griffin, who finished at No.9 in the standings.
Joining them as picks at Bethpage Black in New York will be Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Sam Burns and Patrick Cantlay.
The six Americans who had already qualified are Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Harris English, Bryson DeChambeau, the only LIV Golf player on the team, and the two other rookies, Russell Henley and J.J. Spaun.
That gives the Americans a total of four rookies for the September 26-28 matches.
Bradley made a compelling case as a pick, and likely would have been chosen without much argument if he had not been captain.
But after all the 'would he, wouldn't he?' speculation, it turns out the suspense was for everyone but Bradley himself as he revealed that he had decided "a while ago" that he would not play at Bethpage and the team had been set on Monday.
"I know 100 percent certain this is the right choice," Bradley said from PGA of America headquarters in Frisco, Texas.
"I grew up wanting to play the Ryder Cup. It broke my heart not to play, it really did," he said.
"Ultimately I was chosen to do a job. My ultimate goal was to be the best captain I could be."
Bradley has won twice in the last 13 months against strong fields -- only Scottie Scheffler has won more since then -- and finished at No.11 in the Ryder Cup standings. He's also the eighth-best American in the world rankings.
"I'm going to be defined by this decision," Bradley said last week at the Tour Championship in Atlanta.
But he's decided that, as captain, there's too much on his plate to have a playing role as well.
Thomas, described by Bradley as the "heartbeat of the team", is playing in his fourth straight Ryder Cup, making him the most experienced American on the team.
He also was part of the committee that selected Bradley — at 39 the youngest Ryder Cup captain since Palmer was 34 — to be captain last year.
"He wants to do whatever is best for the team," Thomas said. "I know all of us are gutted for him.
"But him leading us to victory will be cooler than any experience he can have as a player. We don't doubt him for one second."
European captain Luke Donald makes his six picks on Monday.
11°C