Keegan Bradley has received huge plaudits in the United States over the past few months, and now Brandel Chamblee has thrown his hat into the mix by offering his opinion on the Ryder Cup captain.
Bradley was named as the US Ryder Cup captain last year, and he has taken his duties very seriously indeed.
The 39-year-old from Vermont was actually close to qualifying for his own team, and that highlighted how the PGA of America put him in a really tough spot by naming him captain at his age.
While some of Bradley’s Ryder Cup captain’s picks have been questioned, Collin Morikawa included, what cannot be questioned is his commitment to the role he has undertaken ahead of the showdown at Bethpage Black.
He has left no stone unturned, and if the United States lose to Europe, it won’t be because of a lack of preparation.
It’s no surprise that Bradley has been praised for how he’s handled the Ryder Cup captaincy so far. He has quite simply done everything right and he’s even been receiving praise from Europeans!
However, something else he has done seems to have gone under the radar. Nevertheless, Brandel Chamblee has made sure that it doesn’t go unnoticed.
Brandel Chamblee reacts to something Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley has done
Chamblee was discussing the upcoming Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black next week, when speaking on his Favorite Chamblee Podcast.
As the issue of certain American players demanding to be paid at the Ryder Cup came up, Chamblee chose to take the conversation in a different direction.
The former PGA Tour player highlighted something amazing Bradley has done ahead of the Ryder Cup.
“I do like the message that Keegan Bradley is setting, I do like the tone he is setting, I’m going to give him a lot of credit,“ Chamblee explained.
“He did something that I thought was one of the most amazing gestures.
“He invited Larry Nelson to be one of the ambassadors to the Ryder Cup.
“Larry Nelson fought in Vietnam, after he served his country and came back home he took up golf at the age of 21.
“In a very short period of time he got on the PGA Tour, won the US Open, won a couple PGA’s and always handled himself with great class and grace, was 9-0 in his first nine matches in the Ryder Cup. An absolute through and through gentleman.
“Rumour has it he was supposedly given the nod for the captaincy in the mid-90s. Whoever wanted it went to him and said, ‘if you let me take this one you’ll get the next one’. He agreed.
“The PGA of America didn’t then make him the captain, they never came back and made him the captain.
“It’s a huge blight in the history of the Ryder Cup that Larry Nelson was never made captain. Keegan Bradley has closed that circle by inviting him to be ambassador.“
Chamblee is right, that is sheer class from Bradley.
The man from Vermont knows all about Ryder Cup heartache of course, having been passed up for a spot on the 2023 team, when he was more than deserving of the call to play in Rome.
Larry Nelson’s Ryder Cup captaincy heartbreak
Nelson was in line to be named as the US Ryder Cup captain in 1995, but was overlooked in favour of Lanny Wadkins.
Tom Kite and Ben Crenshaw were then awarded the role in 1997 and 1999 respectively, and Nelson’s chances had seemingly gone.
However, he was in the mix once again in 2014, but Tom Watson was handed the gig for the showdown at Gleneagles instead.
His playing record was hugely impressive, with 10 PGA Tour wins to his name including three major championships.
As Chamblee mentioned, Nelson fought for his country so he clearly loved the red, white and blue deeply.
The now 78-year-old possessed a fantastic record at the Ryder Cup, with 9 wins, three defeats and one half in the 13 matches he played.
The fact that Nelson was never made Ryder Cup captain is a huge miscarriage of justice and just like Chamblee said, Bradley deserves huge praise for doing his bit to make up for that.
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