Keegan Bradley admits that it’s been “a crazy couple of months”. He’s the US Ryder Cup captain, for now, but his form towards the end of the season suggests he has a fair chance of qualifying for the team as a player.
Bradley, who recently clinched the winning putt for the US at the Presidents Cup, was a surprise choice when the PGA of America named him captain in July, with many expecting 15-time Major winner Tiger Woods to take the role on.
“My passion and appreciation for golf's greatest team event have never been stronger,” said the 2011 PGA Championship winner, who was on the losing side in his two appearances as a player – in 2012 and 2014.
“I look forward to beginning preparations,” he added, and although he’s still very much focused on doing just that, he admits that he harbours hopes of playing in the event.
“You know, every vice captain that I am choosing will know that this is a possibility,” he said, when asked whether there was a Plan B in play in case he made the side.
“So they will know what's going on in that way. I also have John Wood who has come on. But I think my vice captains are all going to be more than capable of doing this, and I hope some day they will all be captains.
“But again, we're so far away from that that I'm really focused on being a captain right now.”
Asked what he thought the challenges would be of trying to play and captain, Bradley, who won the BMW Championship in August, said it would be “a really difficult job.”
“I made a promise to myself that I'm not going to worry about this until the time comes if I do,” he said. “It's really difficult to make the American Team every year; you have to go out and really perform.
“Like I said, right now, my focus is on being a captain but I'm still a full-time player. I'm still playing in all the Majors and all the big events next year. So I have a real shot at doing this.
“For now, I'm focusing on my guys and getting them ready to go.”
Meanwhile, both Bradley and his European counterpart Luke Donald have confirmed that LIV golfers will be considered for their respective 12-man teams.
Speaking in New York at a Year to Go Media Event, Bradley said: Bradley said: “For us, I'm going to take the 12 best players. So if we feel like there's a few guys there, one guy, two guys, whatever it is, then we're going to do that.
“But we're too far out to figure out how this is all going to play out. But we're definitely going to take the 12 best players however that shakes out.”
