FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — As he gathered his team around the first tee at Bethpage Black on Monday morning, Keegan Bradley couldn’t help thinking what it might be like to stick a peg in the ground beside them and hit shots around the course.
The U.S. Ryder Cup captain long ago came to terms with the idea that he would not be playing in the biennial event that begins Friday, despite plenty of evidence to suggest he could—or even should.
Bradley, whose passion for the Ryder Cup is well-documented, is ranked 13th in the world. Half of the 24 players who will be competing this week are behind him in the Official World Golf Ranking. He won the Travelers Championship in June.
But as he sent players off in waves of four on Monday morning, Bradley was the captain only.
“I’ve thought about it every second,” Bradley said Monday afternoon at a news conference alongside European captain Luke Donald. “But I’ve also thought about how impossible it would be.
“I was picked to do this job as captain, 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.
“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.
“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.’"
Monday was the first official day of Ryder Cup week and the Americans were the only ones to practice on the course.
Read into it what you want—some of this is likely to change and it may or may not have a bearing on pairings come Friday—but Bryson DeChambeau was in the first group out along with Ben Griffin Justin Thomas and Cameron Young.
Scheffler played with Russell Henley, Harris English and J.J. Spaun.
And Sam Burns, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa made up the last group.
The U.S. team is due to play a nine-hole practice round Tuesday while the Europeans—who were here for two days last week—play their first 18-hole session.
Bradley infamously never opened his travel bag after returning from the 2012 Ryder Cup, his first time playing in the event which was a tough U.S. defeat that saw Donald and his European teammates come back from a 10–6 final-day deficit.
Afterward, Bradley vowed to never open that bag until he was on a winning team—which has yet to happen. He played two years later at Gleneagles, another defeat. He went 4–3 in those two competitions without a team victory.
Donald played in five Ryder Cups and went 10–4–1 but two of his losses came to Bradley in that 2012 Ryder Cup in team competition.
The U.S. is trying to regain the Cup after losing 16½ to 11½ two years ago in Rome. That result was so successful for Europe that Donald was brought back for a second stint as captain, the first time the Europeans have retained a captain since Bernard Gallacher did the honors three times from 1991–95.
“Very excited about this week,” Donald said. “We understand the challenge ahead. I have a great team, a team that I’m very confident in, a team that has a lot of form, and a team that’s been together quite a lot over the last few years.
“But very excited to be here at Bethpage Black, obviously in New York. I think it’s an incredible location: A state park, a public facility, and very excited for it to get going. It’s been a long buildup, and now it’s time to let the guys go play.”
Donald has 11 of the 12 players who won in Rome back for another run at winning a road game for the first time since 2012. The home team has won five straight Cups since then, all by five points or more.
The 25-minute media session on Monday was mostly pleasantries—Bradley and Donald are friendly and live near each other in Florida—but one subject that is sure to get some more run this week came in regards to U.S. players being paid for the first time.
After getting a $200,000 stipend to give to charity since 1999, the American side is getting $500,000 each—with $300,000 earmarked for charity and the rest for the player to keep or do with what he pleases. It’s been controversial and will continue to be. Bradley said he’d be donating the entire $500,000.
More Ryder Cup Coverage on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Keegan Bradley Can’t Help but Daydream About Ryder Cup Role He Could've Taken.
