Keegan Bradley’s time as USA’s Ryder Cup captain is going from bad to worse and now he’s been slammed for being ‘stubborn’ during a nightmare second day.
The US team lost three from four yet again in the morning foursomes sessions as Bradley looked on helplessly at his star players failing to produce.
Scottie Scheffler became the first world number one to lose all three opening matches, while Bradley could only look on as the disastrous pairing of Harris English and Collin Morikawa once again struggled.
For Bradley, it’s been a baptism of fire really into what the captaincy is all about. He has made errors, without question, and it’s shown just how good Luke Donald is.
Now, after seeing the opening sessions go Europe’s way again, Dame Laura Davies has hammered Bradley for being stuck in his own ways.
Keegan Bradley slammed as Team USA suffer on day two of the Ryder Cup
Bradley was a surprise choice as captain in the first place and while the US did have faith, his inexperience has shown here.
More so, some of his decisions have been baffling, especially the one which saw him go with Morikawa and English once again as a pairing.
As expected, they lost to Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood and speaking on Sky Sports, Dame Laura Davies has laid into the US skipper.
“I think when we saw the draw come out late last night we were so surprised with a couple of the pairings that the Americans put out. It seemed to me like Keegan was saying I’m making the decisions around here. He was being stubborn, it was not working,” Davies pointed out.
“Everybody statistically knew they were the worst possible pairing you could put out and he stuck with it. Is he now going to pay the penalty?
“But I do have to say whatever Keegan has done, our boys have matched everything on the course.
The amount of times Americans hold putts, huge noise, and they stood up and made putts on top of them. Putts for a half, they are the ones that really keep you going. Our boys have been superb at that. They have made loads of birdies. The course is set up easy. They thought it was going to be good for Americans, it’s better for Europe.”
Carrying on further on Bradley’s decision to sit the likes of Ben Griffin, J.J. Spaun and more, she then suggested the US captain has just not been adaptable through the tournament.
“You have a plan for the morning session. If it goes your way, your plan stays for the afternoon session. If it is still going the way you thought it stays the same. As soon as you are out of position on the scoreboard you have to adapt,” Davies continued.
“I think Keegan has not adapted. I think what Luke has done is not have to adapt and he is going for the kill this afternoon. The pairings are very strong and he’s going for it.”
- READ MORE: Phil Mickelson reacts to the four-ball selections Keegan Bradley made on day two of the Ryder Cup
Luke Donald has embarrassed Keegan Bradley
Sometimes, a captain just doesn’t work out and while we all love Keegan Bradley the golfer and person, his captaincy has been a nightmare.
Over on the European side, Luke Donald has been the epitome of calm, calculated and cunning in his ways.
This was obvious during the opening ceremony, as Donald eased his way through questions while Bradley fumbled. Further, Bradley also seemed over-reliant on the uncontrollable – such as suggesting a visit from Donald Trump would somehow impact things – and the noise of the crowd.
All in, these things haven’t materialised how he expected and with the Europeans already within touching distance of retaining the trophy, Bradley has been shown up so far.
Barring a huge turnaround, this is going to go down as one of the worst captaincies of recent times.
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