Keegan Bradley has a lot of big decisions to make ahead of the Ryder Cup, with his most important call of the lot being which players he decides to pair up together at Bethpage Black.
Bradley has put his heart and soul into his role as Ryder Cup captain, and he made the gut-wrenching decision to leave himself off the team for Bethpage in order to focus on his leadership duties.
The 39-year-old from Vermont has, by all accounts, given more to the role than any previous US captain has.
It has been suggested that Bradley’s decision not to pick himself for the Ryder Cup team could be the difference-maker in guiding the United States to glory in New York.
Now the onus is very much on him to give his players the best chance of succeeding at Bethpage.
Bradley is currently testing out numerous Ryder Cup pairings at the Procore Championship in Napa, California.
And one pairing in particular has already caught the eye.
Keegan Bradley considering ‘fascinating’ Ryder Cup pairing
Rex Hoggard and Ryan Lavner predicted which players Bradley could pair together at Bethpage Black later this month, when speaking on the Golf Channel.
And Hoggard highlighted Justin Thomas and Cameron Young as a potentially strong partnership for the United States.
“The one that stands out is JT and Cam Young being paired together. That one’s fascinating to me on two fronts.
“One, JT is the veteran member on this team and I think Cam Young being the New York guy, being the Bethpage guy, he’s going to get the crowd behind him.
“You would rather not put a rookie in that Friday alternate shot session, specifically when it comes to this rookie on that golf course, but imagine the impact he and JT could have.
“JT is very emotional, he’s going to go out and get the crowd fired up. You would have Cam Young who would have all of New York behind him.
“If somehow they could get off to a decent start and get the crowd up, you could see the ball moving quickly for the United States.“
3-1 first session lead for Europe at the Ryder Cup would ‘not be bad’
The United States have historically struggled during foursomes, while they come good when it’s time for the fourball sessions.
Hoggard has suggested that a 3-1 lead for Europe after the first session would actually not be a bad result for America.
He said: “It’s not a stretch to think that, looking at those four pairings, and think that the United States could come out of day one with, maybe not a lead, but maybe a 2-2 or even a 3-1 going the Europeans’ way, that’s not a bad result for the United States.“
I would suggest that Bradley and his players would not be happy one little bit with that outcome. Even if the first session ends tied at 2-2, it will surely be the European team who head to lunch the happier of the two sides.
The upcoming Ryder Cup at Bethpage could well go down as one of the most closely-fought clashes in the history of the competition.
And the opening foursomes session will undoubtedly have a huge bearing on the outcome of the event.
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