New York (AFP) – US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley could become the first playing captain for the Americans since 1963 as he ponders six selections to complete his squad for next month’s event. The 39-year-old American would become the first US playing captain in the biennial showdown against Europe since the late Arnold Palmer 62 years ago if he calls his own name on Wednesday.
Six automatic qualifiers for the US lineup include top-ranked Scottie Scheffler, two-time major winners Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau, US Open winner J.J. Spaun, and fellow Ryder Cup rookie Russell Henley and Harris English. Bradley stands 11th in the world rankings and eighth on the list among Americans after sharing seventh at last week’s Tour Championship. He won his eighth PGA Tour title at the Travelers Championship in June. His solid play this season has many thinking Bradley would be a perfect choice for the lineup, including US President Donald Trump, who plans to attend the first of three days of competition at Bethpage Black on September 26.
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After a season of facing questions about his plans to play or not, the time for a choice has finally come for Bradley, who called it the hardest decision of his life. “It has been a wild year,” Bradley said. “It’s difficult because I want to put the team in the best position to win the Ryder Cup. So there’s sort of an unknown — Arnold Palmer did it in 1963, but it’s a totally different tournament now. It’s just a heavy decision. All the picks are tough. Captain is going to be judged on who they pick. Pretty strange thing to pick yourself. It’s something that I’ve been thinking about for a long time and I just want to make sure we make the right one.”
Bradley, who won his only major title in his major debut at the 2011 PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club, has had to consider the skills and team chemistry among his rivals and then factor himself in the options as well. “I think it makes it a little harder,” he said. “It’s a really strange thing to kind of ponder making the picks and then thinking about picking yourself. It’s ridiculous. It doesn’t seem like reality sometimes. But we’re going to do the best we can to make the right decision and it’s going to be controversial to certain people either way. I’m prepared for that. I’m confident whichever decision I make, it’s for the betterment of the team, and we’ll see. Ultimately I have to protect the team. I have to do the right thing by the team. Whatever the best decision is, we’re going to make it.”
Bradley, who played on losing US sides in 2012 at Medinah and 2014 at Gleneagles, says he wishes he could call upon Palmer for some guidance. “I wish he was alive and I could call him,” Bradley said. “If I had one thing I wish I could call Arnold and talk to him because I think he’d have some great advice for me.”
Just putting himself into the situation has made this season one Bradley cherishes. “I would say for me, this is the proudest season I’ve ever had,” he said. “My rookie season I won twice with a major. That’s up there. But this was my favorite of all of them.” It doesn’t make his captain’s pick choice any easier when it comes to himself. “This is a whole ‘nother animal. I have no clue. This is going to be really difficult,” Bradley said. “I think no matter what decision that I make here, I could have gone the other way easily, no matter what. The only thing I care about is on Sunday of the Ryder Cup, that we win the Ryder Cup. Then I’ll know I made the right decision. Until then, I won’t know. It’s going to be pretty wild. Whatever decision we make, we’re going to have to live with it.”
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