The game within the game at this week’s Tour Championship is about who is going to fill the final spots on the U.S. roster for the coming Ryder Cup. And it has gotten a lot tougher for captain Keegan Bradley.
Based on the way he has played this week, Bradley may not have a choice but to become the playing captain. He shot 7-under 63 on Sunday and will begin the final round tied for third, only three shots off the lead.
The captain has the freedom to choose himself, an option that hasn’t been taken since Arnold Palmer in 1963 at East Lake. Palmer was 34 and still in his playing prime at the time, a claim few captains have been able to make since. “The King” played in all matches in the Ryder Cup that year and his bag is on display at the club.
“I’m not Arnold Palmer,” Bradley said. “It’s pretty surreal looking at it. I wish he was still alive, and I could call him and talk to him because I think he’d have some great advice for me.”
Bradley, 39, ascended to the captaincy when Tiger Woods turned it down. Bradley won the 2011 PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club and saw his playing career start to wane as he grew older. But he enjoyed a resurgence with a win in 2022, won again in 2023 and won the BMW Championship playoff event in 2024.
This season he won the Travelers Championship — the eighth victory of his career — and is ranked No. 13 in the world. He certainly has earned the right to name himself to the team if he desires. A FedEx Cup win would almost force him into the role of a playing captain.
“It’s a really strange thing to kind of ponder making the picks and then thinking about picking yourself,” Bradley said. “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.”
The Ryder Cup will be played Sept. 23-28 at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, N.Y. The six automatic spots have already been filled and includes Georgians Harris English and Russell Henley, PGA champion and Open champion Scottie Scheffler, U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun, two-time major champion Xander Schauffele and two-time U.S. Open winner Bryson DeChambeau, the only player from LIV Golf to make the team.
The other six spots, all to be chosen by the captain, will be announced after the Tour Championship. The next names in order on the points list are Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Ben Griffin, Maverick McNealy, Bradley and Brian Harman.
Bradley is in a no-win situation either way if the American team loses. If he doesn’t choose himself and the team fails, he will be second-guessed for picking a less-credentialed player. If he chooses himself and the Euros win, he will be second-guessed for putting too much on his own plate.
Thomas and Morikawa are no-brainer choices, and Harman also has plenty of international experience and played on the 2023 Ryder Cup team. The other choices may depend on how much Bradley wants to lean on newcomers. He already has Ryder Cup rookies Henley and Spaun on the team. If he goes strictly on points and chooses Griffin and McNealy, that would mean four first-timers on the team.
He could easily choose Patrick Cantlay, the third-round co-leader at the Tour Championship, and Sam Burns and not get much pushback, while selecting veterans Rickie Fowler or Spieth would certainly raise eyebrows.
“We’re pretty confident with the picks that we have,” said. “One more day of golf to kind of finalize this whole thing and I can’t wait. I’m done with this whole process. I want it over with either way.
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
