US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley believes some players who think they will be handed a wildcard for the team are likely to be disappointed.
Bradley will reveal his six captain’s picks at 11am EDT on Wednesday, and, following the Tour Championship, he was asked by the Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis how emotional it will be letting individuals know of his decision in the 48 hours beforehand.
He said: “Really awful. Really, really, truly awful. I’ve been on the wrong side of these calls, on the right side of a couple of them.
“I think when you get the call, you know. You know where you stand, you know if it’s close or if you’re going to make it or if you’re probably not.”
He then hinted there may be one or two surprises, at least among the players, adding: “But there’s going to probably be a few guys that think they’re going to be on the team that aren’t going to be, I don’t know, and I feel for them.
“You know, there’s nothing that we can do other than try to put what we think is the best team on the course. We’ll see if that’s the right decision.”
Bradley certainly isn’t short of options on contenders to complete the team alongside the six automatic qualifiers.
The likes of Justin Thomas, Ben Griffin, Patrick Cantlay, Sam Burns, Maverick McNealy, Collin Morikawa and Cameron Young all have strong cases for inclusion, along with other candidates in the mix such as the experienced Brian Harman, Wyndham Clark and Jordan Spieth.
However, another player who could make the team is Bradley himself, who has been in excellent form for most of the year, including victory at the Travelers Championship and a T7 at the Tour Championship.
He explained: “It’s difficult. It can be a decision that, like I said, it’s going to be controversial either side, there is no right decision here. The right decision is if we win on Sunday and that’s all I care about.”
He then expanded on the likelihood of his inclusion in his press conference, adding: “Yeah, that's going to be tougher. I've gone through a lot of stuff this year, I didn't know how I was going to handle it. Proud of the way I did.
“This is a whole 'nother animal. I have no clue. This is going to be really difficult. When I get done here, we're going to talk to my vice captains.
“We sort of put everything on hold the last couple days. I think they were trying to leave me alone. But we'll get in touch with them and get our final decisions together. Saw a lot of Americans play great today, which makes me happy."
He then returned to the difficulty of making his selections on the whole, saying: “I think no matter what decision that I make here, I could have gone the other way easily, no matter what.
“The only thing I care about is on Sunday of the Ryder Cup, that we win the Ryder Cup. Then I'll know I made the right decision.”
