Rory McIlroy’s season has been up-and-down since winning The Masters at Augusta National in April, but he will definitely be ready for the Ryder Cup next month.
While McIlroy has little left to achieve after completing the career Grand Slam, leading Europe to a Ryder Cup victory in the United States is near the top of his wishlist.
In his press conference before the BMW Championship, the Northern Irishman was asked about the possibility of Keegan Bradley being a playing captain at Bethpage Black.
And if Bradley did not already have doubts about whether it’s a good idea, he certainly will after listening to McIlroy’s response.
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Rory McIlroy thinks it’s impossible to be playing captain at the Ryder Cup
McIlroy first revealed that he had previously been approached about becoming a playing captain for Europe one day, which he immediately “shot down.”
The 36-year-old “doesn’t think you can do it” because of the many extra obligations a captain has to undertake throughout the week.
McIlroy explained fully: “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.”
This will not be music to Bradley’s ears, as many expect him to become a playing captain when the USA team is announced after the BMW Championship.
Rory McIlroy thinks Keegan Bradley should make USA Ryder Cup team
While McIlroy clearly feels like being a playing captain is too much to ask, he had no reservations about Bradley’s place on the American team.
“I definitely think he’s one of the best 12 American players right now,” he commented on the state of Bradley’s game at the moment.
“That’s why everyone is so interested, and it’s such a compelling case, and it’s going to be… I’m just as interested as everyone else to see how it all plays out.”
Bradley is currently 10th in the USA Ryder Cup qualification standings, but he could fall out of the top 12 if he performs poorly at the BMW Championship.
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