2024 proved to be another eventful year for professional golf, with numerous high-profile stories emerging throughout.
There has been a lot happening, whether it was Scottie Scheffler’s arrest at the PGA Championship, Bryson DeChambeau’s dramatic US Open victory, or the ongoing negotiations between the PIF and the PGA Tour.
Furthermore, the YouTube scene has continued to boom, and the online golfing world is slowly becoming part of the mainstream: DeChambeau’s collaboration with Donald Trump is the highest-profile piece of content to emerge.
There’s also the small matter of the 2025 Ryder Cup, which gets underway at Bethpage Black next September. And Golf Channel pundit Ryan Lavner believes Keegan Bradley‘s appointment as USA captain was the biggest shock to happen over the past 12 months.
Ryan Lavner’s biggest shock of 2024
Speaking on his latest podcast, Lavner admitted he was surprised by the decision, which “came out of nowhere.”
“I am going for my biggest surprise of the year – Keegan Bradley being named as US Ryder Cup captain. Here is a player who is now 12th in the world as we sit here at the end of 2024,” Lavner said.
“He is going to be 39 years old when the matches are played at Bethpage Black in 2025. That is the youngest since Arnold Palmer in 1963. This came out of nowhere. This was supposed to be Phil Mickelson’s captaincy, then it was supposed to be Tiger Woods’ captaincy, then it was going to be – I don’t know – Stewart Cink.
“Instead, it is Keegan Bradley who all he has done since that announcement; he didn’t fall off a cliff, his game didn’t go to hell, and he won the BMW Championship, the second event in the FedEx Cup playoffs. He was then named to the US Presidents Cup team, where he earned the clinching point at Royal Montreal. It is going to be fascinating to see how Keegan handles that added spotlight in 2025.
“And whether his game is going to go into a tailspin because he is going to be pulled in so many other directions. But you know, if he shoots 65 at the pro-am at Pebble Beach in February, the first question is going to be, what does this mean for the Ryder Cup? Would you pick yourself? What if you are playing well? What does that mean for time bonding? All of these sorts of things are going to encircle every good round that Keegan Bradley plays, and at number 12 in the world, it doesn’t look like his game is going anywhere.”
What else was said after Keegan Bradley was named Ryder Cup captain?
It wasn’t just Hoggard who was shocked by Bradley’s selection as Ryder Cup captain.
Rickie Fowler admitted he was surprised, and even European captain Luke Donald said it was an unusual decision.
There is, however, plenty of support from USA players ahead of the event on Long Island. “When someone is really passionate about something, they usually do really well,” Xander Schauffele said in his Scottish Open press conference.
“I think he is going to be great,” Justin Thomas told the Golf Channel. “I don’t think anybody can doubt or question him or his passion or his intensity or fire, which I think as a player is what I want a captain as someone I am going to battle for and with and know they want it as bad as I do. I think we all know Keegan’s intensity, and he’s going to want it.”
After the success Donald brought to Europe, the USA’s bold decision could prove inspired once the 2025 event concludes next September.
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