The Ryder Cup is now just over a week away, with Keegan Bradley under plenty of pressure to leave Bethpage Black victorious.
Team Europe have practiced at Bethpage Black in a bid to prepare for the tournament, which starts in New York on Friday.
Luke Donald will captain the visiting team again at Bethpage Black, while Bradley leads the United States after replacing Zach Johnson.
And both Ryder Cup captains have finalised their teams, having each added six picks to their six automatic qualifiers.
The stage is now set in New York, where the United States will be looking to recover from their 16½-11½ defeat to Europe in Rome in 2023.
Keegan Bradley reveals what happened when he was once caught sneaking onto Bethpage Black
Bethpage Black is an extremely difficult course, but it didn’t stop Bradley from sneaking his way onto it to try and play once upon a time.
Sharing the story for Golf, he said: “Craig Currier has asked me not to tell this story but that was 15 years ago. But he was the superintendent at Bethpage Black.
“The Black was closed on Mondays and on the inside loop you are on the other side of the ropes, so nobody can see you when you are out there.
“But when you cross over the road from 14 to 15 you are on the other side of the clubhouse so people can see you everywhere.
“You would play that inside loop so nobody saw you because the course was closed. You weren’t supposed to do it.
“But it was so horrible not to go over and play those holes and finally in my senior year my buddy George and I went and played it and we got in so much trouble. It was really bad. That was as mad as I have ever seen my coach.
“Finally in senior year we were like we are going to go and do it and it was ugly. Imagine you are at St John’s for four years and never get to play 15 through 18 at Bethpage.
“It was torture. We were talking about it during the round and finally we were like screw it I’m going to go and do it.
“Currier got in trouble, Frank Darby got in trouble, a police officer came because people thought we just snuck on the course.
“It was a huge mistake but people don’t realise, if you are not from New York, just how important Bethpage Black is to the locals.
“Winged Foot is great, Shinnicock is amazing, but if you talk to a real New Yorker, Bethpage is the home course.
“For a golfer it’s almost like a religious experience when you are out there because every hole is its own hole, so you don’t really see other holes.
“Not many people, ever, get to play Bethpage with nobody on it. Even for practice rounds at the US Open, even if there are no crowds, there are still other players.
“So we would show up there and have the course to ourselves. Hit some shots, hit some chips. You really knew that you were not that far off from playing the Tour.
“You were on the course and seeing the shots and that was the closest I have ever felt to being where I wanted to be.”
Why Keegan Bradley won’t be taking Ryder Cup captaincy lightly at Bethpage Black
Bradley was understandably eager to take on Bethpage Black back in the day, having attended St. John’s University not far away in Queens.
But by his own admission, he did go about his ambition the wrong way, but his story at the New York course has now remarkably come full circle.
He will attend the course in completely different circumstances, having earned one of the highest honours in golf.
And it is clearly a responsibility he won’t be taking lightly given his history at Bethpage, with Bradley certain to be left very emotional should he guide the US to Ryder Cup success.
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