Paul McGinley says Keegan Bradley may be tempted into a surprise Bryson DeChambeau decision at the Ryder Cup

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Bryson DeChambeau is very much in the spotlight heading into the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black this week.

US captain Keegan Bradley is quite obviously desperate to lead his team to Ryder Cup glory this week at Bethpage Black, and having someone like DeChambeau among his ranks will make him confident in his chances of doing just that.

Bradley was impressed by DeChambeau qualifying for the Ryder Cup team from just eight events.

It really was a remarkable achievement from the 32-year-old American.

Somewhat surprisingly, it has also been suggested that DeChambeau has been a leader among the US Ryder Cup team behind the scenes since it became clear that he would be part of the squad.

It does seem as though he gets a bad rap sometimes. Some media personalities find it too easy to criticise him at times.

For instance, Brandel Chamblee suggested on Monday that DeChambeau will not be a team player at the Ryder Cup for the United States.

Those comments from Chamblee were unnecessarily harsh and it’s now up to DeChambeau to prove the notoriously critical pundit wrong.

Paul McGinley has offered his own take on what Bradley may well decide to do with DeChambeau at Bethpage.

Keegan Bradley may be tempted into surprise Bryson DeChambeau Ryder Cup decision

McGinley has a very different take on the DeChambeau situation to his fellow analyst Chamblee.

When speaking on the Golf Channel, the 2014 European Ryder Cup captain explained how Bradley could be tempted into making somewhat of a surprise decision regarding DeChambeau this week.

The Irishman explained: “First of all on the point of being the black sheep, fans usually like the black sheep. Someone who is different and unique, so I have no doubt the fans will rally around him here.

“Will he play first morning? You would have to look at his game and say that he is probably not suited to foursomes.

“He is a difficult personality to pair with, that is for sure. And he also has a difficult game to pair with because his iron play has been really poor at the majors this year.

“We know his driving is spectacular and his short game, but his iron play has been really poor. And generally it’s iron play you look for more than anything when you pair.

“Having said that he is a big name and is going to draw a crowd. His comments were about playing to his own audience on YouTube. A lot of those YouTube fans will be here this week.

“I would not be surprised. He is not a perfect fit for foursomes but I would not be surprised. Because one of the keys we are expecting from Keegan is to play to the crowd and get that home crowd advantage as soon as possible.

“Obviously him in the team the first morning would do that for him.

“He is now used to playing on a team. For two years he has been on LIV playing as part of a team. He is coming here with more experience of being part of a team than other guys. That puts him in a different spot, let’s not underestimate this guy.“

McGinley has nailed it here. Underestimate DeChambeau at your peril.

Ryder Cup fans and analysts have got Bryson DeChambeau completely wrong

McGinley is one of the few golf pundits to have given the LIV Golf star the credit that he deserves.

The narrative surrounding DeChambeau is that he is a poor driver of the ball and someone who does not thrive in team competition.

However, that could not be further from the truth.

DeChambeau has been the best all-round driver of the golf ball in the world this year, by quite some distance as well, excuse the pun.

He’s simply not as wayward off the tee as some people are making out either. He ranked 14th in driving accuracy on LIV with a hugely impressive figure of 62.88% of all fairways hit.

Considering the fact that he averages around 330 yards, the fact that he hits roughly two out of every three fairways is quite something.

Bradley will be missing a huge trick if he doesn’t use DeChambeau in the Ryder Cup foursomes matches.

The LIV golfer is built perfectly for Bethpage and how Bradley utilises him could be the difference between the US winning or losing the Ryder Cup.