Keegan Bradley’s hopes of gaining the experience of both playing and acting as a vice-captain at the Presidents Cup have been dashed, with Jim Furyk removing him for the backroom role ahead of this month’s event at Royal Montreal.
It appeared that Keegan Bradley was going to get the chance to take on two roles at the Presidents Cup as he earned a captain’s pick following his win at the BMW Championship. Of course, it was significant with Bradley keen to be a playing-captain at next year’s Ryder Cup.
Furyk is now looking to replace the 38-year-old as a vice-captain. Presumably, that will not be ideal for the captain, but it is not entirely uncommon for the final vice-captains to only be appointed shortly before the event itself. Bubba Watson was announced as a vice-captain just three days before the 2016 Ryder Cup.
Smylie Kaufman asked if Justin Thomas could be named vice-captain for the Presidents Cup
Speaking on The Smylie Show, Smylie Kaufman was asked about who he could see coming into the role as Bradley’s replacement, before it was then put to him that Justin Thomas could be a contender for the position after missing out on a pick from Furyk.
“The only thing that comes to mind may be a guy like Billy Horschel who was left off the team, maybe say, ‘hey, I’ve got an assistant captain seat open if you want it’. Billy might just like, ‘you know what, no thanks’,” he said.
“There’s no chance he’s doing that. No chance. Absolutely no chance,” he added, when asked about Thomas.
A surprising view
Kaufman and Thomas are good friends, so it is a surprise that he appears to be so emphatic in ruling him out of becoming a vice-captain. Of course, it will be painful for the two-time major champion to not be playing in Canada given that he has been a stalwart for such a long time.
Having said that, Thomas is definitely going to captain the side one day. Thomas was involved in selecting Bradley as the Ryder Cup captain. And at 31, he is only seven years younger than Bradley.
If anything, it could perhaps help motivate Thomas to make sure he is not the same position again while he should be at the peak of his powers.
It would definitely be a real statement about the depth in the US side if they were able to call upon Thomas as a vice-captain this time around.
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