Luke Donald got most of his key decisions spot on during the first two days of the Ryder Cup but unfortunately the same cannot be said for Keegan Bradley.
It’s no surprise that the United States dominated the Ryder Cup singles – a format where influence from the captain is minimal.
Things could have been so different for Bradley had he emulated one very simple tactic that was put into play by Donald on day one at Bethpage.
On Friday, Team Europe won the first session 3-1 and the second by a score of 2.5-1.5.
Donald’s men then won the foursomes and four-ball sessions on Saturday both by scores of 3-1.
Bradley was widely panned by Ryder Cup fans and golf journalists alike for his incompetent performance in his role as US captain.
Meanwhile, Donald passed each test with flying colors.
While Bradley displayed an alarming lack of Ryder Cup leadership underlined by poor preparation for the clash with Europe at Bethpage, Donald rose up to the challenge.
Keegan Bradley failed to copy Luke Donald’s blueprint for Ryder Cup success
Bradley surely must be regretting numerous decisions he made during Ryder Cup week at Bethpage Black.
His decision to roll with Collin Morikawa and Harris English as a pairing, TWICE, was unforgivable.
However, he missed a field goal by failing to do something which would have been an instant win for him.
Donald’s method for success was very simple on day one at Bethpage Black.
The Englishman put his eight best players out for the foursomes on Friday morning.
Then for the afternoon four-balls, he simply paired his four best players with the four players who sat out the morning foursomes.
It’s not rocket science is it?
The problem for Bradley was that he missed out on implementing that simple method and he failed to use that tactic on day two at Bethpage.
Keegan Bradley must own his mistakes after Ryder Cup defeat
The Ryder Cup proved to be out of reach for the Americans before the singles matches even began.
Despite their incredible efforts on Sunday, they left themselves with too much work to do and the reason for that was Bradley’s inept decision-making on Friday and Saturday.
Once the dust has settled and he is alone with his thoughts, he will surely admit that to himself as well.
It’s all well and good for him to say the ‘envelope rule’ needs to be changed or that the Europeans holed more putts than his team, but the truth of the matter is that he failed when he needed to get his pairing selections spot on during the first two days of play.
It cannot be denied that Bradley was underprepared for the Ryder Cup captaincy and the finger of blame must be pointed at the PGA of America for that.
Naming a player in the middle of their playing career, someone who is still at the top of his game by the way, was a huge mistake, and they must learn from that going forward.
Bradley just didn’t have the time to put in the same amount of work that Donald did ahead of the Ryder Cup, and it showed in the end.
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