Keegan Bradley is likely to take so many positives from his Presidents Cup experience at Royal Montreal, with the American not only securing the decisive point, but also getting so many ideas he can potentially take forward to next year’s Ryder Cup.
The spotlight is now on Keegan Bradley with the Presidents Cup now behind us. He now has around a year to get his plans in place before he captains the USA at the Ryder Cup. Bradley has already spoken about taking much of what Jim Furyk implemented.
And it really does appear that USA have such an impressive group of players. Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler and Collin Morikawa all achieved their best tallies in a team event at Royal Montreal. Meanwhile, Bradley will also be able to pick the likes of Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau if they do not qualify automatically.
Certainly, it would be a surprise if DeChambeau, at least, was not involved in New York. Meanwhile, the likes of Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth will hope to have much better years. With that, some of those involved in the Presidents Cup potentially face an uphill battle to be involved in the Ryder Cup.
Smylie Kaufman fears for American’s chances of receiving captain’s pick for the Ryder Cup
And speaking on The Smylie Show, Smylie Kaufman expressed his concern for Brian Harman after the 2023 Open champion lost all three of his matches in the past few days.
“I think it’s shocking really how Brian Harman performed. It really felt like a perfect golf course for him, and I understand the pick from Jim Furyk, taking Brian Harman on this course, because it really, in my opinion, suited his game,” he said.
“But the stats and just his results were surprising. He’ll have to be a player that qualifies on points because Bethpage is not a Brian Harman golf course. I don’t think that’s a course in which Brian Harman’s getting picked on, so he’ll most likely have to qualify on points for that one.”
An uphill battle for Brian Harman
It was impressive how Max Homa played as he really did appear to be the American with absolutely no form at all heading into the event. He went on to beat Mackenzie Hughes in the bottom match in the singles to win his only point of the week.
But perhaps Homa had the game to bring more to the table had he been paired with someone else. So Harman is going to need a turnaround in form if he is going to force his way into Bradley’s plans.
Unless there is an injury, you would imagine that Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa and Patrick Cantlay will take up four of the six automatic qualification spots. With that, it is going to be so difficult for Harman – if Kaufman is correct and his chances of receiving a captain’s pick are slim at best.
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