President Donald Trump urged Keegan Bradley to pick himself for the US Ryder Cup team on Sunday.
However, Bradley didn’t take Trump‘s advice, and instead chose to leave himself off the Ryder Cup team.
Bradley shocked a lot of people by not including himself on the Ryder Cup team, with many fans, media members and his fellow pros urging him to play.
President Trump, 79, was one of those people. He is well involved in the professional game, and is well known to have a real obsession with the sport.
Earlier this year, Trump tried to move along negotiations between the PGA Tour and LIV by holding talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia.
Then, just a few days ago, Trump took to his X account on Sunday and urged Bradley to play at Bethpage Black.
The 47th President of the United States said: “It will be a great Ryder Cup. At the invite of the PGA Tour, I will be there on tournament Friday!
“Keegan Bradley should definitely be on the American Ryder Cup team – as captain! He is an amazing guy.“
However, that message fell on deaf ears. That said, it was appreciated by the Ryder Cup captain nonetheless.
Keegan Bradley sends message to President Donald Trump after Ryder Cup announcement
Bradley addressed the media on Wednesday to name his six Ryder Cup captain’s picks.
After he announced the names of the six golfers who he picked for the US team, he was asked multiple questions about his decision-making process.
He was also asked what he thought when he saw President Trump’s message asking him to include himself on the Ryder Cup team.
Bradley said: “Yeah, that was really surreal.
“Again, I have been really blown away by the support and any time you get the support of the President of the United States it’s really surreal and stunning.
“I really appreciate it Mr President, I hope you’re not disappointed and we look forward to seeing you at the Ryder Cup.
“When you see stuff like that, you start to wonder how I got to this point in my life, but I was deeply, deeply honoured to hear him say that.“
Keegan Bradley responds to Rory McIlroy’s mind games ahead of the Ryder Cup
While Trump suggested Bradley should have played on the team, McIlroy highlighted how it would be an impossible job.
Earlier this month, McIlroy, potentially trying to get into Bradley’s head, suggested that he didn’t think being a playing captain at the Ryder Cup was possible.
The northern Irishman said: “I just think the commitments that a captain has the week of… you think about the extra media that a captain has to do, you think about the extra meetings that the captains have to do with the vice captains, with the PGA of America, in Keegan’s case, preparing your speech for the opening ceremony… just there’s a lot of things that people don’t see that the captain does the week of the Ryder Cup, especially now that the Ryder Cup has become so big.
“If you’d have said it 20 years ago, I’d say, yeah, it was probably possible to do, but how big of a spectacle and everything that’s on the line in a Ryder Cup now, I just think it would be a very difficult position to be in. So I just think it for those reasons.
“Then the captain isn’t going to be on the course all day, so really the captain’s only going to be able to play one session on Friday, one session on Saturday. Would you rather not have a player who has the flexibility to go twice if he’s playing well?
“There are a lot of different things that go into it, and that’s why I think… look, it’s just my opinion, but I think it would just be very difficult to do.”
Bradley clearly wasn’t influenced by those comments by McIlroy, but there will definitely be a bit of added spice between the two at Bethpage Black next month.
Receive exclusive golf news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
