Farmingdale (United States) (AFP) – United States captain Keegan Bradley accepted the blame for the United States losing 15-13 to Europe on Sunday in the Ryder Cup despite a furious final-day singles fightback. “I’ve got to take responsibility for this outcome for sure,” Bradley said Sunday. “I definitely feel I made a few mistakes there. I wish I could have some of those decisions back.”
After falling behind 11.5-4.5 in foursomes and four-ball matches, the Americans matched a record with 8.5 points in singles, holding Europe to one singles triumph but falling short of success. Bradley, ranked 13th in the world and ahead of four of his players, said he had all the resources and support needed by the organizers. “The PGA of America put me in an amazing position to succeed. They gave me every resource. They gave me every option. I had everything at my fingertips,” Bradley said. “This is no one’s fault but mine. When you are the leader of the team…and you lose, you have to take the blame.”
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Justin Thomas, a two-time major winner, said all Bradley needed was more made putts by US players in the first two days. Bradley indicated he would not expect to return. “Unfortunately, it didn’t work out. But we have some momentum going forward,” Bradley said. “I’ll help out the best I can to help the next captain.”
Bradley was disappointed at soft greens soaked by days of rain before the event, his plans for months undone by unpredictable weather. “I’ve never seen Bethpage greens play this soft ever,” he said. His set-up choices were similar to US PGA Tour events, which players on both sides are familiar with. “I definitely made a mistake on the course setup. I should have listened a little bit more to my intuition,” he said. “At a Ryder Cup the captain is to be blamed or to be celebrated. We all have to do a better job, but most importantly I have to do a better job as a captain. I feel like the guys have played pretty well. The Europeans have just played like way better.”
Bradley said Europe played “as high of a level as a Ryder Cup team has ever played for those two days,” calling it “one of the best performances of a road team in any sport.” “They’ve played incredible. They’ve putted even better. They have come into a hostile environment and played great. You have to take a step back and tip your cap to something like that.”
Bradley kept Harris English and Collin Morikawa together for two days in foursomes even after a noted golf data analytics website called it the worst of all 132 possible pairings, preferring to stay with his plan. “In the past sometimes we have panicked with the pairings and switched everything up, and it hasn’t worked out,” Bradley said. “We wanted to stick with the plan and that’s what we did.”
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