The United States of America is really up against it after day one at the Ryder Cup, so what will Keegan Bradley be saying to his players behind closed doors?
Bradley has a lot of work to do now, if he is to inspire his US Ryder Cup players ahead of the second day’s play against what is an incredibly strong European team.
Luke Donald oozed class and composure throughout all of Friday, while Bradley quite frankly looked a little like a deer caught in the headlights.
Bradley actually put Europe’s Ryder Cup domination on day one down to the fact that they just holed more putts at Bethpage Black.
It was a lot more than just good putting though.
Bradley made far too many mistakes while Donald nailed all of his big decisions; it really is as simple as that.
Eyebrows were raised when Bradley named Collin Morikawa and Harris English as one of the US Ryder Cup parings.
The two had never played together as a duo, seemed to have little chemistry with one another and most importantly, they were ranked dead last in 132nd spot in Data Golf’s ‘optimal pairings rankings’.
Russell Henley and Scottie Scheffler teeing off on odd and even holes respectively was truly bizarre as well.
Bradley has to do something on day two to not only stop the bleeding, but to turn the tide back in the United States’ favour.
What Keegan Bradley would have told his Ryder Cup players after day one
Bradley’s Saturday morning foursomes line-up hardly inspired confidence ahead of day two at Bethpage.
Rich Beem thinks that some home truths need to be told in the team-room now.
Beem was speaking on Sky Sports in the UK when he was asked how the American captain would have handled the European domination on day one at Bethpage.
The 2002 PGA champion said: “I think he is going to put a lot of onus on the players. He is going to say, ‘boys we did not get it done today, we need to figure out a way to start making putts’. We have to turn these putters loose because they kept missing everything on the high side with too much pace. They have got to start making that hole bigger by dying everything in pace wise.
“It was almost like they were trying to force the ball in the hole and trying to make those birdies happen. You have to let them come to you sometimes. They did not have the pace of the greens in my mind’s eyes, they were putting with way too much pace.“
It’s all well and good Bradley telling his players to raise their games. However, it means nothing if he’s not leading by example with his selections for the foursomes and four-ball match-ups.
The fact that Bradley has opted to roll out Morikawa and English again is evidence that he’s feeling the pressure and that’s not a great sign for a captain.
Decision-making skills become non-existent sometimes in the cauldron of elite level sport and Bradley has failed all of his biggest challenges so far.
Keegan Bradley has failed at the Ryder Cup and proven that leading is not his forte
Bradley seems to be somewhat out of his depth at Bethpage this week.
That may sound harsh but there is no room for sentiment in elite level sport.
We’ve spoken about the Morikawa and English partnership and Henley taking the tee shots on the odd holes, but what about his refusal to put J.J. Spaun into the line-up for the foursomes on day two?
One of the best iron players and ball-strikers in the game will be sitting out while Morikawa stinks up the place at Bethpage.
Only Bradley will know the reasoning behind some of the bizarre decisions he has made.
He seems to be quaking under the weight of the pressure right now and after his selections for the Ryder Cup foursomes matches, it’s hard to imagine Donald and his European players not landing a knockout blow on Saturday.
Receive exclusive golf news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
