The PGA of America are certainly well on their way to getting their wish if they truly did want Keegan Bradley to become the first playing captain of the USA Ryder Cup team since Arnold Palmer in 1962.
The possibility of Keegan Bradley qualifying for his own Ryder Cup team has been discussed for a number of months, with the 39-year-old winning the BMW Championship just last year.
It did appear that Bradley was incredibly reluctant to pick himself for his team. But perhaps that may no longer be something that he needs to worry about, after he won the Travelers Championship on Sunday. It now means that Bradley has won on the PGA Tour in each of the last four years.
Winning a signature event at this stage of the season surely puts Bradley on the brink of making the team as a player in one form or another. With that, the US team face something of a dilemma.
Potential replacement for Keegan Bradley as Ryder Cup captain suggested
As impressive as it would be to have Bradley act as a playing captain, the US cannot afford to get carried away by the novelty. No home side has lost any of the last five Ryder Cups – and Bethpage is not the place for the US to see that run end.
There is an argument that Bradley should step down as captain now and hand the role over to someone else before it becomes too late. And speaking on the Golf Channel Podcast, Ryan Lavner named who he would pick to be Bradley’s replacement at this stage.
“I don’t think he would be a playing captain. I don’t think that is really on the table,” he said.
“You look back at what happened last year at the Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal, Keegan Bradley was an assistant captain for that time, but what became clear once he won the BMW Championship and was an obvious pick for Jim Furyk it became you focus on what you need to do inside the ropes, leave all of the back room stuff to me and we can fill you in afterwards.
“Putting him in a position where he is half player, half captain, half leader, half motivational speaker, half logistical negotiator and navigator. That is not going to work. I see a situation where if Keegan Bradley puts himself in a position where he is either automatically qualifying or it becomes blatantly obvious to everyone that he would make this US Ryder Cup team much better on the surface if he is a player then I think he should relinquish the captaincy and put himself in a position where he is guaranteed a spot down the road.
“Whether that is in 2027, 2029 or beyond I don’t know. But it’s clear if the US needs him and needs a player of his calibre. He should be as a player and forget and leave the captaincy to someone else.
“Brandt Snedeker to me makes a lot of sense. He is already going to be captaining Presidents Cup team in 2026, he was filled in early as a vice-captain for the Ryder Cup team, he has familiarised himself with how the backroom staff and support needs to work and has been keeping up with all the logistical headaches which go along with a home Ryder Cup. Let him handle that if it becomes blatantly obvious if he needs to be on this team. I don’t think a playing captain will ever work in this scenario.”
Brandt Snedeker already has experience of replacing Keegan Bradley
Snedeker already has experience of stepping in for Bradley. In the wake of the news that he would captain the Ryder Cup team, Jim Furyk named Bradley as a vice-captain for the Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal.
However, Bradley did enough to earn a captain’s pick last year after finishing 10th in the standings.
At the time, it seemed to be a good opportunity to test Bradley’s ability to handle both roles. If he could not play and be a vice-captain, then there was no chance that he would be able to juggle playing and the number one role.
But it was decided to let Bradley focus on playing while Snedeker was named as his replacement as a vice-captain.
Perhaps history will repeat itself at Bethpage.
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