When Keegan Bradley is not out on the golf course, you would imagine that so much of his time right now is being spent weighing up his potential captain’s picks for the Ryder Cup.
The American team for the Ryder Cup is starting to take shape. J.J. Spaun confirmed his qualification at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, while Xander Schauffele‘s spot has also been secured.
Meanwhile, Bradley confirmed Bryson DeChambeau will be on his team. Of course, Scottie Scheffler could have probably spent this year on the sidelines and still made the team.
Elsewhere, it is hard to see how Russell Henley, Harris English, Justin Thomas and Collin Morikawa do not tee it up at Bethpage. Ben Griffin cannot be too far away now either.
Keegan Bradley on course to pick eight-time PGA Tour winner for the Ryder Cup
That leaves three spots up for grabs. Obviously, Cameron Young and Chris Gotterup have won recently. Meanwhile, Keegan Bradley‘s win at the Travelers Championship seemed significant – though his more recent form is much more concerning.
There are a lot of inexperienced options looking to secure those final spots. With that, it is difficult to overlook the man in 15th spot in the qualification standings right now, Patrick Cantlay.
Cantlay was USA’s second-best player by some distance in Rome, and impressed once again at the Presidents Cup the following year. However, his form has been disappointing this year with three missed cuts in the majors.
Nevertheless, speaking on the No Laying Up Podcast, Kyle Porter suggested that there is a very good chance that Cantlay will receive one of those captain’s picks for Bethpage.
“There’s a difference between what I think should happen and what I think will happen. I have heard that he is inked. But personally, I would not have him inked on my team. But I think for the purpose of is he going to be on the team? Yes, he’s going to be on the team,” he said.
“He’s been better than Keegan and Ben Griffin over the last six months, and better than all but three Europeans, which is sort of my point. Sometimes we talk about Cantlay like, ‘oh, he sucks right now’. There’s only been three Euros that have been better than him over the last six months. And again, I get that you can throw out the strokes gained stuff when we get to matchplay, I understand all that, but the way we talk about it going in, I think should even shift from some of the discourse right now about how these two teams are being talked about.”
Patrick Cantlay’s Ryder Cup record
Given Cantlay’s importance to the US team, it is almost surprising that he has only previously featured in two Ryder Cups.
He has won five of the eight matches he has played, including that incredible duel on Saturday afternoon at Marco Simone.
| Year | Patrick Cantlay’s points won | Overall record |
| 2021 | 3.5 | 3-0-1 |
| 2023 | 2 | 2-2-0 |
Cantlay has had such an underwhelming year by his standards, and it is almost three years since his most recent PGA Tour victory.
But when it comes to a crucial putt in the Ryder Cup, there are not many players in the American side who would inspire more confidence in his teammates than Cantlay.
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