Keegan Bradley calls first-tee team moment powerful before Ryder Cup
Keegan Bradley shares how a first-tee gathering without fans became an emotional moment that bonded the U.S. Ryder Cup team.
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- Bradley opted to focus on his captaincy duties rather than become the first playing captain in 62 years.
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — Keegan Bradley is conflicted.
At times this week at Bethpage Black, the U.S. Ryder Cup captain has missed being on the course preparing for the tournament as a player.
Then, he starts thinking about his duties off the course and he says he does not miss worrying about when he should be practicing and meeting with his coach.
“I’ve thought about it every second,” Bradley said when asked this week about his decision not to pick himself for the team that will face the Europeans Sept. 26-28.
“But I’ve also thought about how impossible it would be.”
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Bradley had a chance to become the U.S. Ryder Cup team’s first playing captain in 62 years, but he opted to concentrate on his duties as captain, excluding himself from his six captain’s picks.
No one would have questioned Bradley selecting himself for the team. Bradley, who lives in Palm Beach Gardens, was 11th in the Ryder Cup points standings and is No. 13 in the world golf ranking. At 39, he has been playing the best golf of his career the last three years.
“I was picked to do this job as captain,” he said, “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.”
But since putting together his team, Bradley said he has thought about “how badly” he wants another chance to represent the United States in the biennial event. Bradley was a member of the 2012 and 2014 U.S. teams.
“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.” he said. “But I feel like I’ve been called for a bigger cause here, to help our guys get ready to play and play at the highest level.
“But in the back of my mind, I’m always thinking, ‘I could have been out there.’ “
In the end, he has enough on his plate.
“Ultimately, 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,” he added. “It simplified things a lot for me.”
Tom D’Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at [email protected].
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