Keegan Bradley nailed it, and exactly what this means for the U.S.’s Ryder Cup hopes is hard to say. Everything a Ryder Cup captain does before the event, like the baseball trade deadline or the first round of the NFL Draft, feels enormously consequential, simply because it is what’s happening now. Eventually you realize that the linebacker your team chose 23rd is just one linebacker, the reliever you acquired at the deadline is just another good arm, and the difference between Ben Griffin and Maverick McNealy isn’t that large.
Still, though: For what it is worth, from this vantage point, Bradley got it right. Justin Thomas was an obvious choice; Bradley called him “the heartbeat of our team.” Collin Morikawa has not had his best year, but there was no scenario where leaving him home would make sense. Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns were also fairly easy choices, and they will be warmly welcomed by the two best American players at the moment: Scottie Scheffler is one of Burns’ closest friends and his likely partner, and Xander Schauffele is a lock to play with his buddy Cantlay.
