IF Keegan Bradley believes that he has made the best decision for the US Ryder Cup team by choosing not to be a playing captain, then he has done the right one.
There is a strong thing that Bradley, in 11th place in the world, should be one of the 12 players on the American schedule in Bethpage Black next month and it felt like a mild surprise on Wednesday morning when he announced his six captain Picks without taking himself.
For weeks Bradley said there were contingent plans if he decided to play, but in the end he chose – take your choice, Sam Burns of Cameron Young – to get the last place, allowing him to concentrate solely on his duties as a team leader.
Captains are placed there for various reasons, but the most important thing is to bring their teams into the best position to win. Bradley decided that he could do that most effectively by having others play, although the decision to deny himself left an empty feeling inside.
“Monday was difficult for me. I was besides the boys who didn’t make the team. I mopped around,” said Bradley, who couldn’t help it, but flashed back to the gut punch that he took two years ago when Captain Zach Johnson called him to tell Rome with the American team.
He made this decision based on input, instinct and a combination of head, heart and lower abdomen. That is all he can do and if he has peace with it, that’s an early victory.
Bradley’s time as captain of Ryder Cup has followed an unusual arc. It started with surprise – almost nobody had Bradley in mind as the team leader at Bethpage – before he turned into a smart choice, given his passion and dedication to all things red, white and blue.
When Bradley played well enough to consider being the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer 62 years ago, the will-of-dwellers did not feed a story about conversations on social media, radio and television programs and in grill rooms throughout the country. It is a compliment for Bradley that the golf community was invested in his decision and – with the matches away for another month – there are no wrong decisions.
“I am really surprised about the attention this has received. I understand the weight and history that goes with it,” said Bradley.
“I never really considered playing until after the travelers (which he won in June). It was on the table for a while, but I was interested in the best leader I could. I feel that I could best serve the team in this way. I don’t care if I play or not play as long as we win on Sunday.”
“We had set the team for the last 48 hours. We didn’t clamber at all.” – Keegan Bradley
With six players already locked up, Bradley finally added Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Ben Griffin, Patrick Cantlay, Young and Burns. It is easy to justify each of those choices, although the recent form of Morikawa has expressed some worries. However, he will be easy to play in four with his consistent ball-spring.
Bradley acknowledged that the current form helped make his decision easier. Both Young-Die has a victory and three other Top-11 ends in its last four starting and burns obliged by supplementing their affairs in recent weeks.
“We had set the team for the last 48 hours. We didn’t clamber at all,” said Bradley.
“There was really a difficult decision. There was a point this year that I played. These guys stepped up in an important way and played their way to the team. It was an extremely difficult decision, but I am really happy and happy that it is over.”
Apart from Bradley himself, there were no remarkable absence, although Maverick McNealy, Andrew Novak, Brian Harman and Chris Gotterup had reason to hope. The schedule was completed when the Tour Championship ended and it is fair to assume that it was in fact in its place well before that time.
It is also reasonable to assume that the combinations for Friday’s two sessions have already been set, although there is probably a leeway, depending on how it goes on the site at the beginning of that week.
By choosing Bradley to become the captain, the PGA of America broke the fungus and chose someone fresh, not a bad idea since the Europeans have won eight of the last 11 Ryder cups. The contrast is sharp in the sense that the European captain Luke Donald is expected to bring 11 of the 12 players back into his team who dominated the Americans in Rome two years ago.
There is a clear selflessness in Bradley’s decision not to play because it is in its nature to want to be there. Rory Mcilroy and others have tormented that it is not a good idea because of the demands on the captain, but Bradley rightly responded by saying how someone really knows, because nobody tried it in this new era of the Ryder Cup.
It is not to be denied the extra burden that would have come if Bradley had brought himself into the gaming schedule. If the Americans won as a player with him, it would be brilliant, even if he didn’t play particularly well. If the Americans were to lose – and it is a formidable challenge that they are confronted with – it would not matter if Bradley played or he would not, the fault would be dumped on his head.
“I was chosen to do a work to be the leader of the team,” said Bradley. “My goal was to be the best captain I could be. This is how I could do that. I would do what I thought was best for our team. I know that 100 percent this is the right choice.”
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