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Keegan Bradley was lauded for his selfless decision last month to take himself out of playing contention for this Ryder Cup. That doesn’t mean he’s quite come to peace with the call. When Bradley was announced as the United States captain last summer, his surprising appointment raised the possibility of becoming the first playing manager since Arnold Palmer in 1963. Bradley’s performance following that announcement only strengthened his case, earning a spot on the 2024 Presidents Cup team and winning this year’s Travelers Championship. After reaching No. 7 in the world ranking, his inclusion on this year’s Ryder Cup squad as a player seemed like a foregone conclusion. That Bradley practised at Bethpage Black as a college kid only added to the narrative.
However, with a number of wild-card players getting hot at the right time—and with Bradley deciding he couldn’t captain at full capacity while also playing—Bradley choose to take himself out of the running for a captain’s pick. Still, as Bradley conceded Monday at Bethpage Black, his mind still drifts to “what if.”
“Definitely. I’ve thought about it every second,” Bradley said, when asked if he still wonders what it would have been like to play this week. “But I’ve also thought about how impossible it would be. Like I said earlier, I was picked to do this job as captain, and there’s been certain things that I’ve done during the week or lead-up that if I was playing, I don’t think I could have done at the level that I needed to do them at.”
“I catch myself every now and then looking down the fairway, seeing the guys walk down the fairway and think how badly I’d like to do that, and how badly I’d want to be in the group with Scottie Scheffler and seeing him play and being his teammate.”
Bradley later added he knows “I could’ve been out there” with the team as one of its players, which would have been his first Ryder Cup appearance since 2014. But, he explained, Bradley ultimately felt “I’ve been called for a bigger cause here, to help our guys get ready to play and play at the highest level.”
“I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed being the captain and how I’ve enjoyed not having to worry about getting to sleep and getting my rest or how I haven’t had to think about what time I’m going to go practice or meet my coach and then meet the guys,” Bradley continued. “It simplified things a lot for me.”
As for this week, Bradley knows he’s tasked with a job. Conversely, as one who loves this event but has been away from it for over a decade, he wants to implore his team to appreciate this week for what it is.
“Sometimes in your life and in your career, you have to take stock in what’s happening around you. I think one of my biggest regrets earlier in my career wasn’t enjoying things more,” Bradley said. “And for that moment out this morning, guys were really taking that in and enjoying it, and that was a beautiful thing.”
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Main Image: Jared C. Tilton
