With Keegan Bradley winning the point which recently clinched the Presidents Cup for USA, attention has already turned to next year’s Ryder Cup and how the 38-year-old is going to get on as captain at Bethpage.
The golfing world was left stunned when it was announced earlier this year that Keegan Bradley would be the next US Ryder Cup captain. Even after Tiger Woods reportedly turned down the captaincy, few would have ever imagined that Bradley would be the man who got the job.
Not only had the 2011 PGA champion not been on a Ryder Cup team for a decade, it also seemed that Bradley was enjoying a career resurgence. He was inside the world’s top 20 when the announcement came and was in contention to qualify automatically for the Presidents Cup.
Bradley claimed that the top players have insisted that they want him to be a playing captain at next year’s Ryder Cup. And he arguably improved his chances of playing in New York by impressing at Royal Montreal, winning two points from three matches.
Keegan Bradley reveals the promise he has made to himself ahead of the Ryder Cup
There appears to be a real chance of Bradley being a playing captain. But he will have also taken note of how hard Jim Furyk worked to lead his team to Presidents Cup glory. So some may have wondered how that would impact his desire to play on the team as well as lead it at the Ryder Cup.
But speaking in a press conference ahead of next year’s event, Bradley shared the promise he has made to himself as he was asked about the potential challenges of playing and captaining.
“Just getting the pairings in after the session, managing and preparing to play with preparing the guys and preparing the pairings. I think it would be a really difficult job, but I made a promise to myself that I am not going to worry about this until the time comes if I do,” he said.
“It’s really difficult to make the American team every year so you have to go out and really perform. Like I said, right now, my focus is on being the captain. I’m still a full-time player, I’m still playing in all the majors and all the big events next year, so I have a real shot of doing this. But for now, I’m focusing on my guys and getting them ready to go.”
What are the chances of Bradley being a playing captain?
It is obviously too soon to confidently predict what the American team will look like next year. You would imagine that Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa and Patrick Cantlay will make up a third of the team. Meanwhile, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau are eligible to be involved.
Sahith Theegala surely has a good chance of making his Ryder Cup debut, while Max Homa‘s record in team competitions is outstanding. And Russell Henley was excellent at Royal Montreal.
That could be nine of the 12 names, which obviously would not leave much room for Bradley. But if he gets off to a fast start in the new year, he will certainly put himself in a fantastic position to make the team itself for the first time in 11 years.
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