Rich Beem says who he would prefer on the US Ryder Cup team out of Collin Morikawa and Patrick Cantlay

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Collin Morikawa and Patrick Cantlay will both be representing the US Ryder Cup team at Bethpage Black next month.

Both Morikawa and his fellow American Cantlay had to rely on captain’s picks from Keegan Bradley to make the US Ryder Cup team.

However, Rich Beem has shared his opinion on which player out of the two he would prefer on the team at Bethpage Black.

Bradley ignored fans’ advice by not picking himself for the Ryder Cup team, but numerous high-profile pundits and journalists have suggested that he 100 per cent made the correct decision.

Phil Mickelson congratulated Bradley for his classy decision to concentrate on captaining the US Ryder Cup team at Bethpage.

However, the nature of the beast is that his captaincy will be defined by whether he manages to guide his team to a victory next month.

If the US team fail to win the Ryder Cup, Bradley’s captain’s picks will be highly scrutinised.

Rich Beem says who he’d prefer on the Ryder Cup team, Collin Morikawa or Patrick Cantlay

Beem appeared as a guest on the Sky Sports Golf Podcast to discuss Bradley’s press conference and his captain’s picks.

The 2002 PGA champion was asked which player he believes was closest to missing out on the team.

Beem said: “I’m going to say a name that I think everybody will be thinking ‘what in the world’, but from my point I think Collin Morikawa would have kind of been sweating it out a little bit.

“He started the year great but then he kind of went in the doldrums a little bit. He would play good through 36 holes but then he would fade away over the weekend.

“The lack of consistency and searching, from an outside looking in, that would have caused me some concern. What are you looking for? What are you searching for? What’s missing in your game?

“I’m sure that he and Keegan had plenty of conversations and if anything, I would have thought that Morikawa would have generated those conversations, reaching out to Keegan.

“I don’t know what the conversation was like, but I think Morikawa would have certainly been there.“

Beem then showered Cantlay with praise, insisting that he would have him on his team every single day of the week.

“I’m taking Patrick Cantlay 24/7. The guy is just a beast, he’s an animal, he’s an antagonist, he’s a stud, but he’s not afraid to sit there and fire everybody up like he did in Rome.

“I just think there was no chance you could have left him off.“

Patrick Cantlay vs Collin Morikawa: 2025 PGA Tour season by numbers

Cantlay has been superior to Morikawa in almost every category this season.

Here are their 2025 seasons compared side by side:

Cantlay had the edge over Morikawa during the 2025 season, especially in three key departments – putting, driving distance and top-5 finishes.

We all know how good Cantlay is in the Ryder Cup, with his outstanding record of five wins, two defeats and one half.

The 33-year-old was always going to be selected by Bradley, especially after his strong showing at the Tour Championship.

However, Morikawa can consider himself lucky to be a part of the Ryder Cup team at Bethpage Black this year.