Sir Nick Faldo directly tells Keegan Bradley whether he should play at the Ryder Cup or not

Add as preferred source on Google

Keegan Bradley is being tipped to act as a playing captain for the US Ryder Cup team at Bethpage Black in September.

Bradley has enjoyed a fantastic year on the golf course, and he is currently sitting in ninth place in the Ryder Cup points list.

And now Sir Nick Faldo has told the American what he should do at Bethpage Black.

The idea of Bradley acting as a playing captain at the Ryder Cup has been labelled as ‘extraordinary’ by some over in Europe.

The general consensus amongst the top American players is that Bradley should definitely play at the Ryder Cup.

An American performing the roles of player and captain at the Ryder Cup is a rare thing. It hasn’t happened since 1963 in fact, when Arnold Palmer did it.

But what does Faldo think?

Sir Nick Faldo tells Keegan Bradley whether he should play at the Ryder Cup

Faldo has a wealth of Ryder Cup experience.

He has played on 11 teams and was captain of Team Europe at Valhalla in 2008, when the United States ran out as convincing winners.

Sir Nick was speaking on the Sky Sports Golf Podcast when Bradley connected in for a chat.

And the six-time major champion instantly offered the American some advice.

Faldo said: “If I was you, I would play. You’re playing great.“

To which Bradley responded: “Do you think you can do both.“

Faldo: “No, you designate enough vice-captains. If it was me I would play first and give up the captaincy and say I’ll have it again mate.“

Bradley: “I don’t know if I have the power to do that. As the process has gone on, I have got vice-captains, I definitely feel more comfortable playing. There is still such a long way to go.“

The 39-year-old then responded when asked if he believes he can perform both roles at Bethpage.

He said: “Well, I think I’m going to rely on my vice captains a lot anyways. I, you know, even if I was just playing, you know, I’m going to rely on Jim Furyk, I’m going to rely on Snedeker and Kisner and Webb and Gary, more than most captains would have just because of, you know, I’ve never even been a vice captain before. So I think you can.”

US Ryder Cup standings

The top six of the US Ryder Cup points list looks incredibly strong right now.

All of the usual suspects are inside the top six aside from Collin Morikawa.

And here is how numbers seven through 20 look right now:

If Bradley remains inside the top 10, it’s hard to envisage a scenario where he doesn’t play at the Ryder Cup in September.

He is undoubtedly one of the very best American players on the planet right now, and it would feel like somewhat of a waste if he wasn’t on the team.

However, whether Bradley acting as a captain as well as playing will be beneficial to Team USA is very much debatable.