Paul McGinley has offered his opinion on a late announcement just made by the PGA of America ahead of the eagerly anticipated Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black next month.
Keegan Bradley faces one of the most difficult decisions of his life regarding whether or not he picks himself for the US Ryder Cup team.
The 39-year-old from Vermont will name his six captain’s picks for the showdown with Europe at Bethpage Black on Wednesday at 11am Eastern Time.
In all fairness, Bradley has been put in a really difficult position ahead of the Ryder Cup by the PGA of America.
In what is somewhat of a no-win situation for him, he’ll be damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t, so to speak.
Appointing someone who was 38 at the time and still in the prime years of his career was an extremely risky decision.
PGA Tour player Michael Kim has predicted that Bradley will name himself on the Ryder Cup team.
However, if he does do that, will it be possible for him to give his undivided attention to the captaincy role as well?
Paul McGinley comments on ‘unusual’ late US Ryder Cup announcement
McGinley thinks the United States have just dropped a very big hint ahead of the 45th Ryder Cup.
The 2014 European Ryder Cup captain has been speaking on the Sky Sports Golf Podcast about whether Bradley will play on the Ryder Cup team.
McGinley was asked whether he thinks it is possible for the 39-year-old to perform both roles to the best of his ability.
“I’m not going to dismiss it, absolutely not,“ McGinley exclaimed. “If you’re really well organised I think it is possible.
“To be honest, most of the work I did when I was captain was before the matches. Then what you’re doing is monitoring your plan as the week unfolds. So if you have a really, really good plan in place, I think it is possible.
“I think the difficulty is remaining concentrated and not getting distracted when you’re out there as a player,“ McGinley continued.
“I thought it was quite interesting this morning guys, and this was a late announcement. America announced this morning that the format of play will be foursomes in the morning and four-ball in the afternoon.
“I thought that was interesting because first of all it was a late announcement, it was kind of unusual that it would be announced pretty much the day after qualification closed in America, that was the first thing.
“The second thing that made it interesting for me was that if Keegan is going to play, that format of playing foursomes in the morning and then four-balls in the afternoon is the way to do it.
“So he would exclude himself from the foursomes in the morning so he’s not getting up early and rushing around and trying to get out on the golf course. He will be able to motivate the players around breakfast time, have a chat with them on the range, get the foursomes well underway. There will be a plan for the four-balls in the afternoon that will be in place.
“Then a good two hours before his tee time he can remove himself away from captain’s duties and try to get into the mindset of being a player, and he only needs to do that once each day. So, he will play three matches out of the five as a captain. I’m not going to rule out that it’s not possible. I think if you’re really well-organised you can.“
One flaw with Paul McGinley’s verdict on Keegan Bradley being a playing captain
While Bradley performing both roles to the best of his ability will certainly be possible, there is one problem that could arise, should he go out and play in the two afternoon four-ball matches and in the Sunday singles.
What if the final game of the morning foursomes goes to the final hole? There is no way Bradley will be able to follow that match and provide extra motivation for his players.
Also, will Bradley really be able to give his undivided attention to warming up on the range when he knows there is still a match in progress out on the course? That is certainly debatable.
And the same can be said for the singles matches. If the eight-time PGA Tour winner picks himself for the team, he will most likely go out first on Sunday.
How will it be possible for him to concentrate fully on his game without his mind drifting to what is going on in the matches elsewhere?
It says a lot that the European team will unquestionably be hoping that Bradley picks himself for the US Ryder Cup team.
And all the signs are pointing towards Luke Donald and his players getting their wish.
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