U.S. captain Keegan Bradley decided the best way to win back the Ryder Cup was to leave his golf clubs at home.
Bradley filled out his 12-man roster Wednesday with six captain’s picks for the September matches that did not include himself. He had considered becoming the first playing captain of the Ryder Cup since Arnold Palmer in 1963 at East Lake.
Turns out the suspense was for everyone but himself. Bradley said he had decided “a while ago” that he would not play at Bethpage Black on New York’s Long Island, and the team had been set on Monday.
“I know 100% certain this is the right choice,” Bradley said from PGA of America headquarters in Frisco, Texas.
“I grew up wanting to play the Ryder Cup. It broke my heart not to play, it really did,” he said. “Ultimately I was chosen to do a job. My ultimate goal was to be the best captain I could be.”
Instead, Bradley went with a pair of Ryder Cup rookies in New York native Cameron Young and Ben Griffin, who finished at No. 9 in the standings. Joining them as picks were Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Sam Burns and Patrick Cantlay, all of them on the last U.S. team.
That gives the Americans four Ryder Cup rookies — U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun and Russell Henley qualified on their own — for the Sept. 26-28 matches. The other U.S. qualifiers were Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Harris English and Bryson DeChambeau, the only player from Saudi-backed LIV Golf who made it.
Brooks Koepka of LIV Golf was a captain's pick for the 2023 matches.
Europe, which will announce the rest of its team on Monday, is likely to return 11 of the 12 players who won in Rome two years ago. Luke Donald returns as captain.
The Americans return only six players from that Rome squad.
Bradley made a compelling case as a pick, and he likely would have been chosen without much argument if he had not been captain. He has won twice in the last 13 months against strong fields — only Scheffler has won more since then. He finished at No. 11 in the Ryder Cup standings and was the eighth-best American in the world ranking.
“No matter what decision I made, I’m going to be defined by this decision. If we win, it doesn’t matter what decision I make," Bradley had said at the Tour Championship.
Instead, he will stick to being captain, a decision that is sure to be second-guessed if the Americans don’t win.
Rory McIlroy had said in June there was a chance the Americans would not have their best 12 players if Bradley did not pick himself. McIlroy, who has played in the Ryder Cup every time since 2010, also said he didn't think it was possible for someone to play and be captain because of the spectacle this event has become.
Thomas is playing in his fourth straight Ryder Cup, making him the most experienced American on the team. He also was part of the committee that selected Bradley — at 39 the youngest Ryder Cup captain since Palmer was 34 — to be captain last year.
“He wants to do whatever is best for the team,” Thomas said. “I know all of us are gutted for him. But him leading us to victory will be cooler than any experience he can have as a player. We don't doubt him for one second.”
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
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