Keegan Bradley informed what his ‘biggest challenge’ is going to be at the Ryder Cup this year

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Keegan Bradley would have been forgiven for giving little thought for what he is actually going to do at Bethpage once the Ryder Cup gets underway having probably spent much of the year simply weighing up whether he was going to play or not.

Of course, Keegan Bradley ultimately decided to leave himself out of his own Ryder Cup team. Bradley was put in an impossible position by the PGA of America, with the 39-year-old certainly one of the best players around right now.

But Bradley appeared to be at peace with his decision at the Tour Championship, just days before the news was announced.

It seems that the captain wanted to be able to fully focus on his leadership duties. And it is going to be fascinating to see how he handles the role given how surprising his appointment was.

Keegan Bradley told what his biggest challenge at the Ryder Cup will be

Bradley’s passion for the event cannot be questioned. But it seems that there are some concerns over how he will handle some of the tougher decisions he will have to make.

Speaking on 5 Clubs, writer Jaime Diaz suggested that Bradley will have to be prepared to make some brave calls if some of his biggest players fail to fire in New York.

He said: “I think it will be the biggest challenge. The biggest challenge will be if the veterans start to under-perform at the Ryder Cup. Will he have the ability to comfortably tell the veterans to say we are putting in the young guys, I’m sorry?

“Keegan is a young guy himself and he has never really been among the elite. So does he have that psychological stature to go to a guy? He is the captain and I’m sure they will honour that but it’s still an awkward situation.

“I think he will have to step up in terms of saying that I am in charge here, I am going to have to do the best thing for the team, I am sorry and I respect everything that I have done but I am going to make this decision.

“I think that would be a hard, awkward [conversation]. But he has already done it, he has told the guys who didn’t make the team, and part of being a captain is making those hard decisions, but I think it will be his biggest challenge.”

How many Ryder Cups each American player has featured in previously

When it comes to players who have featured in at least three Ryder Cups, Europe have the advantage by six to one. Justin Thomas is the only American set to make his fourth appearance this year.

So it is a relatively inexperienced team Bradley has assembled, and that may help him get the entire lineup to buy into everything he wants.

Collin Morikawa has been struggling for some time, while Thomas had an underwhelming week at the Procore Championship. So if they struggle to get going at Bethpage, they can have few complaints if Bradley sits them out of at least two sessions.

Elsewhere, Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau have not played a competitive round for several weeks.

Bradley will need no one to tell him that not everything will go to plan once the matches start. As Diaz suggests, it will be when the momentum appears to be with the Europeans that Bradley’s capabilities as a captain really become apparent.