Keegan Bradley set for Ryder Cup job that hasn't existed for 62 years after stunning PGA Travellers Championship win
KEEGAN Bradley is set to become the first Ryder Cup captain to play in the event in more than 60 years after denying Tommy Fleetwood his first PGA Tour win.
Exactly a year after being handed the USA reins for Bethpage Black in September, Bradley's birdie on the last at the Travelers Championship coupled with playing partner Fleetwood's bogey saw him win by a shot.
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Keegan Bradley celebrates with his son Cooper
Credit: Reuters
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Keegan Bradley celebrates after sinking the winning putt at the Travelers Championship
Credit: Getty
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Keegan Bradley reacts to making a birdie putt to tie the lead on the ninth
Credit: AP
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Bradley is a serial winner having won eight times on PGA tour
Credit: Getty
And Bradley, 39, admitted he is closer to selecting himself for the US dozen than at any stage since he took the role - setting up a potential Sunday singles rematch with the Southport golfer.
Golf legend Arnold Palmer was the last playing captain when he led the US to a crushing 23-9 mauling of Great Britain and Ireland at East Lake, near Atlanta, in 1963.
But Bradley, now up to seventh in the world rankings and ninth in the US Ryder Cup standings - the top six qualify by right and the captain will select the other half of the team - is ready to rewrite the recent history books.
Bradley said: 'I never really planned on playing. I really wanted to just be the captain.
'I really felt strongly about that. I want to serve the guys.
'They asked me to do a job. I want to do it to the best of my abilities.
'But this changes the story a little bit.
'I never would have thought about playing if I hadn't won.
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'But this definitely opens the door to play.
'I don't know if I'm going to do it or not, but I certainly have to take a pretty hard look at what's best for the team and we'll see.
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'It's still June, so we've still got a long way to go. This definitely changes things a little bit, and we'll all get together and figure out the best way to do this.
'With the amazing vice captains that I have, and I have a better perspective of playing in the Presidents Cup and being around a lot of the guys, I feel a lot more comfortable if I went that route.'
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He won the 2011 PGA Championship
Credit: AP
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Scotsman
an hour ago
- Scotsman
Why Keegan Bradley looks likely to be first Ryder Cup playing captain since 1963
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Not since 1963, when Arnold Palmer, took on the role has the Ryder Cup involved a playing captain and, to be perfectly honest, it seemed unlikely it would ever happen again - but not any more. Not after Keegan Bradley, the man appointed by the PGA of America, to lead the United States into battle in the biennial match at Bethpage Black on Long Island in September, landed an eye-catching win in the Travelers Championship on Sunday and suddenly started talking up such a possibility. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad When he agreed to take on the post just under a year ago, it was apparent that Bradley, who had been controversially overlooked by Zach Johnson for the 2023 match in Rome, had a chance of making his own team. US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley speaks at a press conference during the Year to Go media event in New York last October |He'd done a decent job of dancing around the subject when asked about the possibility of him being a playing captain if that was indeed the case, but has now been forced to admit that a huge call is looming on the horizon. On the back of winning the PGA Tour's latest $20 million Signature Event, the 38-year-old is up to a career-best seventh in the Official World Golf Ranking and now sits ninth on the US Ryder Cup points list. Only Scottie Scheffler, who has already qualified for the team, Xander Schauffele, J.J. Spaun, Russell Henley, Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa and Ben Griffin sit ahead of him, with Bradley now ahead of Harris English, Maverick McNealy and Brian Harman. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Listen, this changes the story a little bit,' admitted Bradley as he savoured his eighth PGA Tour title triumph and second success in this particular event in three years. 'I never would have thought about playing if I hadn't won. This definitely opens the door to play. I don't know if I'm going to do it or not, but I certainly have to take a pretty hard look at what's best for the team and we'll see.' I have to admit that my initial reaction to the possibility of this edition involving a playing captain was that it shouldn't happen because I honestly don't think it's a role that can be taken on in the Ryder Cup these days. With all due respect to those who did so in the past, there's so much more required from a captain these days, especially so when it comes to media commitments during the week, and it just seems an almost impossible role to take on. Bradley couldn't be involved in key decisions about pairings if he was in the heat of the battle in a morning match and would he be able to play his best golf over the three days if he was trying to balance two roles instead of just one? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley shows off the trophy along with his wife Jillian and sons Logan and Cooper after winning the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut |I now have a feeling, though, that Bradley will decide to be a playing captain rather than, for example, handing over the reins to Jim Furyk, who is currently set to be a vice captain along with Webb Simpson, Brandt Snedeker and Kevin Kisner. As was evidenced at TPC River Highlands at Cromwell in Connecticut on Sunday, the two-time Ryder Cup player is a hugely-popular figure with American fans and will have a galvanising effect if he stays as captain but also decides to play as well. Yes, that would create some issues, but, with all due respect to Furyk and the other vice captains, the home fans will only want one man to be leading the US into battle against the Europeans later in the year and, right now, it seems to be a risk worth taking. Not, of course, that European captain Luke Donald will be either paying attention to or getting worried about what or what might not happen in the 45th edition from an American perspective. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The Englishman already has a tried-and-tested template from the 2023 match at Marco Simone Golf Club and has been working hard to add elements to it that can give Europe a chance to land the event's first away win since 2012. There's still a fair bit to go, including the Genesis Scottish Open, The Open and the FedEx Cup Play-Offs, but Donald's team is shaping up very nicely indeed, with Rory McIlroy having already secured his spot and Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Bob MacIntyre, Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka being the others currently in the automatic berths. Luke Donald will be at the helm for Europe again in September after leading his side to victory in Rome in 2023 |With Rasmus Hojgaard, Ludvig Aberg, Justin Rose, Viktor Hovland, Thomas Detry and Matt Wallace next on the points list and Jon Rahm, of course, set to be a certainty if he needs a captain's pick, it's probably looking not too far off how Donald would want it to be, though it's likely, of course, that someone will come with a late charge and throw one of those spanners in the works. The bigger question, though, is how late will Bradley leave it to make his call and, by the sounds of things, the PGA of America appointed him half expecting that he would indeed end up being a playing captain. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'To be honest with you, I never really planned on playing,' he admitted on Sunday. 'I really wanted to just be the captain. I really felt strongly about that. I want to serve the guys. They asked me to do a job. I want to do it to the best of my abilities. 'Now, with the amazing vice captains that I have, and I have a better perspective of playing in the Presidents Cup and being around a lot of the guys, I feel a lot more comfortable if I went that route.'
Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Daily Mirror
Keegan Bradley confirms Ryder Cup stance after Travelers Championship triumph
Keegan Bradley could yet become the first United States captain to feature at the Ryder Cup since Arnold Palmer in 1963 after winning the Travelers Championship on Sunday US captain Keegan Bradley has admitted he could pick himself for the Ryder Cup after beating Tommy Fleetwood to win the Travelers Championships. 'It's insane,' he said. In a Ryder Cup style atmosphere with chants of 'USA, USA' ringing out at the TPC River Highlands in Connecticut, Bradley made a birdie on the 72nd hole to win by a single shot from the European star. The 2011 US PGA champion climbed to world No.7 and ninth in the American Ryder Cup standings. The top six qualify before six wildcard picks. Bradley had previously insisted he would only be the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963 if he qualified automatically. But after his eighth PGA Tour title, the 39-year-old said: 'This changes the story a little bit. I never would have thought about playing if I hadn't won. This definitely opens the door to play. I don't know if I'm going to do it or not, but I certainly have to take a pretty hard look at what's best for the team and we'll see. It's still June, so we still got a long ways to go. This definitely changes things a little bit, and we'll all get together and figure out the best way to do this. 'It's insane. My whole life every year I was out here I wanted to play on the Ryder Cup team, and then this would be the first year where maybe I didn't want to. I just wanted to be the captain and, of course, you know, this is what happens. But we'll see. I'm going to do whatever I think is best for the team. Whether that's me on the team -- this certainly changes a lot of things. I was never going to play on the team unless I had won a tournament and so that's changed, but we'll see.' Bradley has two wins against world-class fields in the last 10 months and only World No.1 Scottie Scheffler has won more in the last 10 months among players ahead of him in the Ryder Cup standings. The time a top-10 player was not picked was when world No.7 Bubba Watson was snubbed in 2016 Qualifying lasts until August 17. After his press conference, Bradley told the Golf Channel that if he plays at Bethpage Black on Long Island he will still be captain with his assistants – Jim Furyk, Webb Simpson, Kevin Kisner and Brandt Snedeker – taking extra responsibilities. His omission from the 2023 team in Rome was controversial as he finished 11th on the points list. Zach Johnson chose the out-of-form Justin Thomas in one of the best storylines in the Netflix documentary "Full Swing". Bradley, who also won the Travelers Championship in 2023, said:I got the call at 8 o'clock tonight a year ago today. So I've been getting these questions for a year. Whether I play well or play poorly, it's something that I have become used to. To be honest with you, I never really planned on playing. I really wanted to just be the captain. I really felt strongly about that. I want to serve the guys. They asked me to do a job. I want to do it to the best of my abilities. Now, with the amazing vice captains that I have, and I have a better perspective of playing in the Presidents Cup and being around a lot of the guys, I feel a lot more comfortable if I went that route. I'm really proud of the guys that are vice captains and -- you know, obviously, you got Jim Furyk, one of the greatest players to play and also an incredibly great captain at the Presidents Cup.' Bradley spared a thought for European star Fleetwood who led by two shots with three to play and has still to win in 159 attempts on the PGA Tour. 'I know how hard it must be for him,' said the American. 'He's just an unbelievable player, and he's fighting so hard to get his first win. It's a weird thing to be on the other side of that. I do feel bad for him, but I got to go out and do what I need to do. But he battled today and I really hope that he gets his win soon.'
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