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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