Keegan Bradley and Luke Donald both made their speeches during the opening ceremony on Wednesday ahead of the 45th edition of the Ryder Cup.
While the speeches from US Ryder Cup captain Bradley and European skipper Donald may seem fairly insignificant in the grand scheme of things, they could well set the tone for the rest of the week at Bethpage Black.
Donald has spoken very highly of Bradley ahead of the Ryder Cup and vice-versa.
Both the American and the Englishman are true gentlemen and absolute credits to the sport.
Bradley has often spoken about how well Donald treated him when he first came out on the PGA Tour.
However, their friendship will be non-existent over the next few days in New York State.
Both captains laid down markers with their speeches at Bethpage during the Ryder Cup opening ceremony on Wednesday.
And now Brandel Chamblee has given his instant reaction to what the American and the Englishman said.
Brandel Chamblee’s verdict on Keegan Bradley and Luke Donald’s Ryder Cup ceremony speeches
Immediately after the Ryder Cup opening ceremony finished, Chamblee was asked to give his take on what he heard.
When speaking on The Golf Channel, Chamblee first delivered his verdict on Bradley’s opening words at Bethpage.
He said: “It’s shaping up to be some show, the crowd was certainly loud and proud. We got a little teaser of what to expect on both sides.
“We got some cheers and we got some boos as well, they were pretty loud and pretty vocal. If the players on the European side weren’t prepared for this they certainly got a good look at it.
“I thought both captains did a beautiful job. Keegan spoke from the heart, took us on a little odyssey, he told us how he grew up, where he came from, paid homage to the sponsors, to the coaches and families, I thought that was touching.
“I thought he set the right tone, talking to the crowd, saying, ‘we expect to be electric, we expect you to be raucous, but we expect you to be respectful’. I thought that was beautiful, he really did speak from the heart.
“Luke Donald it’s just clear, he’s just very good at this. I know he may be a little shy and introverted but he owned the mic. I thought he was absolutely brilliant.
“Him talking to the crowd when he said we may not be your team but we may give you something to admire and something to cheer for.
“I almost feel like, by the end of his speech, there were certainly some jeers and boos at the start, but I almost feel like he won this crowd over because he was so graceful.
“And finally, not just speaking to Keegan and his wife Jillian but calling out Keegan’s kids Logan and Cooper, he knew their names and I thought it was beautiful.“
Both captains performed very well under highly pressurized circumstances.
However, it would be remiss of me not to mention Bradley’s slip of the tongue when talking about the 1999 Ryder Cup at Brookline.
The US Ryder Cup captain was talking about Justin Leonard’s incredible putt on the 17th hole but he referred to his fellow American as Justin Rose instead.
Needless to say that drew some chuckles from the European team.
What Bryson DeChambeau said about Brandel Chamblee during Ryder Cup practice
Bryson DeChambeau received stinging criticism from Chamblee earlier this week, with the Golf Channel analyst labelling the LIV Golf star as a ‘captain’s nightmare’.
The barbs from Chamblee seemed particularly unfair at the time, with all of DeChambeau’s teammates having spoken very highly of him.
And in fairness to the two-time US Open champion, he did not shy away from having a dig back at Chamblee during his practice round at Bethpage on Tuesday.
While signing autographs for fans, he said, “Did Brandel say something yesterday.“
Chamblee is well known for getting on his high horse when it comes to vocalizing his opinions on DeChambeau.
However, he did nothing of the sort in reaction to the speeches from Bradley and Donald at the Ryder Cup opening ceremony on Wednesday, quite rightly as well.
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