NAPA, Calif. – Keegan Bradley is righting a wrong, and he explained why he is bringing Larry Nelson back into the fold with Team USA at the Ryder Cup.
“I think that Larry Nelson is one of the best human beings I’ve ever met in my life,” the U.S. Ryder Cup captain said during a press conference ahead of the Procore Championship. “I sort of had this idea from the start and then he came to the Champions Dinner at the PGA Championship.”
Nelson, 77, is a 10-time PGA Tour winner, including a three-time major champion, and a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. He competed in three Ryder Cups with a 9-1-3 lifetime record but was never given the honor of being named U.S. team captain.
“It’s the thing I wish I could’ve done more than anything,” he told Golf Channel on Wednesday, “but it wasn’t a must-have.”
It will be Nelson’s first time at the Ryder Cup in 37 years.
Keegan Bradley, Larry Nelson won at same course
Bradley and Nelson both won a PGA Championship at the same course, the Atlanta Athletic Club. As Nelson regaled him with stories at the PGA Champions dinner, Bradley cemented an idea to make him a team ambassador.
“Just knowing about his service to the country and his incredible Ryder Cup record, and then to top it off of like what an amazing human being he is, it’s more of an asset for us to have him around,” Bradley said. “To have him around our guys, to have him talk about what the Ryder Cup means to him, tell stories of when he played. He beat Seve (Ballesteros) four times, what an unbelievable, it’s like up there winning a major, nobody ever beat Seve four times.”
Bradley said it’s their honor to have Nelson be part of the American team in this special capacity.
“I really feel it’s our duty to honor people like him, honor great Americans on our Ryder Cup team. When you have a guy that he alone is one of the best Ryder Cup players ever, but then you factor in his service in Vietnam and what he’s done for our country, it’s really stunning, it’s really an unbelievable story,” he said. “I also feel it’s so silly how I could be Ryder Cup captain and he wasn’t. He would never say that. I felt like it was our duty to honor him and what he’s done for us.”
Bradley and his assistant captains hosted a dinner in Atlanta, where Nelson lives, and surprised him during a video interview he was conducting for the PGA of America.
“Which I think was a little bit of a setup,” Bradley admitted. “All the vice captains came in and surprised him and told him.”
Expect to see a video depicting the moment on social media and during the Ryder Cup TV broadcast.
“I was really nervous because I wanted to honor him the way he should be,” Nelson said. “He generously accepted and it was a really great day.”
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