With Luke Donald bringing 11 of the 12 players who won the Ryder Cup in Rome to Bethpage, Team USA was always going to face an uphill battle creating the same level of cohesion among their stars in New York.
One of the stereotypes associated with the Ryder Cup is that the European team has traditionally always had a better bond. They were initially driven by taking down the heavyweights on the PGA Tour.
And that chip on their shoulder does not appear to have gone anywhere. You would certainly have to make Luke Donald‘s side underdogs for the coming days based on how rarely the away side has won over the years.
But Team USA know how badly things can go when the wheels start to come off. Zach Johnson‘s captaincy two years ago proved to be calamitous. So Keegan Bradley had a huge task on his hands to put that week completely behind his team.
It seems that he has done that.
How one member of Team USA described the mood in the camp ahead of the Ryder Cup
Bradley has been hugely impressive to date. He received a lot of credit for his selflessness after deciding not to pick himself to play on his team.
And it appears that those within Team USA have fully brought into what he has been trying to do. Speaking on Ryder Cup Live on Sky Sports, Rex Hoggard shared what one person inside the camp told him about the atmosphere.
“I was with Xander on the back nine and he was pretty relaxed, he also did have Kevin Kisner with him and it’s hard not to be relaxed with him around,” he said.
“But you look at the rest of the team and I think there is a vibe. I was talking to a member of Team USA and he talked about the vibe in the team room. He has never seen a team as close as this, even at the Presidents Cup.
“This team has been around each other, you have some built in friendships and pairings. I think they all have a singular focus and mind to win back the Ryder Cup.”
What Xander Schauffele has found ‘weird’ about Keegan Bradley being the captain
There is no question that the PGA of America took a real gamble when they appointed Bradley as the captain. Not only was he playing well enough to potentially make the team, but he also had little experience of taking on a backroom role.
Bradley stepped down as a vice-captain at last year’s Presidents Cup when he was picked for the team. And he has not been involved in the Ryder Cup in any capacity since 2014 at Gleneagles.
But it seems that one of his biggest strengths has been making sure that he is surrounding himself with the right people, as Xander Schauffele told the media on Tuesday.
“Yeah, I think every great team has a great leader. Everyone has their own sort of style. I think Keegan, he knows how fiery and passionate he can be, and he’s surrounded himself with some calmer individuals at times. But I think as a whole, the captains and the vice captain group are so competitive. Most of them are still playing,” he said.
“I think when you’re removed from the game a little bit, you can sort of talk about what you have done versus kind of what you’re doing. And Keegan, just like all the rookies, Keegan is another one of those guys that’s been whooping up on me all year.
“It’s weird that he’s kind of not playing, in a sense, just because he’s been playing so well. But I think anyone that’s sort of fresh with the sticks at an event like this, he kind of knows what us players need when we need it, whether it’s a little bit of a break, more practice, less practice, food, fuel, recovery, all that stuff.
“It’s like second nature to him because that’s what he’s been doing every week when he’s been competing.”
Whatever happens over the rest of the week, Bradley has unquestionably done a superb job. It seems like no one inside the American camp would say otherwise.
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