Keegan Bradley to Captain Ryder Cup!

[Vinsk]

Keegan Bradley Ryder Cup captain report shocks golfing world, leaves fans stunned

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A report has emerged that Keegan Bradley will lead Team USA at next year’s Ryder Cup, less than one year...

What are your thoughts guys? Odd choice in my opinion. I don’t really know how’s he thought of among the players but just can’t imagine he’s the best choice.

[boogielicious]

I don’t mind the choice. I think he gets alone with all the players and is pretty even-keeled.  The players still have to perform regardless of the captain.

[iacas]

Shake it up! Will be entertaining if nothing else.

[klineka]

1 hour ago, Vinsk said:

but just can’t imagine he’s the best choice.

Maybe he wasn't the first choice but he might have been the best choice that said yes.

[GolfLug]

I see this as a great development. He is so current. 

[saevel25]

Tiger turned down the offer. Tiger didn't feel like he time right now to give it his all. 

Keegan Bradley named 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup captain after Tiger passes | Golf News and Tour Information | GolfDigest.com

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The PGA of America revealed its long-awaited pick to lead U.S. Ryder Cup team in 2025 at Bethpage Black, with Keegan Bradley a surprise choice after Tiger Woods reportedly turned down the job

Quote

“We're still working on what that might look like, also whether or not I have the time to do it,” Woods said in May at the PGA Championship. “I'm dedicating so much time to what we're doing with the PGA Tour, I don't want to not fulfill the role of the captaincy if I can't do it.”

Woods was referring to his roles on the boards of the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Enterprises, along with his position on the tour's transaction team, all of which have been focused on the tour’s potential deal with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

“What that all entails and representing Team USA and the commitments to the PGA of America, the players, and the fans and as I said, all of Team USA,” Woods continued. “I need to feel that I can give the amount of time that it deserves.”

 

[snapfade]

I would like to see where the he fell on the list of choices. I'm leaning that he was not number two behind Tiger. I also wonder if maybe it was a jester of kindness after being left of the last Ryder Cup and getting some TV sympathy from the Netflix piece on him. I imagine some of the questions will be answered over the coming year. For now, it gives people something to talk about. I hope he fails miserably, never have like him.  I actually had him on my short list of next players to go to LIV.  

[klineka]

13 minutes ago, snapfade said:

 I hope he fails miserably, never have like him.  

Hoping that the team loses on home soil just because you don't like the captain is certainly an interesting take.

[saevel25]

9 minutes ago, snapfade said:

I hope he fails miserably, never have like him. 

So, you want to see team USA fail? I see you are from the USA, glad to see you root against your own country. Do you wish USA fails in the Olympics? 

I never had any issue with him. Never rooted for him or against him. He was just another guy on tour. 

12 minutes ago, snapfade said:

I also wonder if maybe it was a jester of kindness after being left of the last Ryder Cup and getting some TV sympathy from the Netflix piece on him.

Gesture of kindness? I am not sure about that. You make it sound like he is unliked on the tour? He maybe is not in the inner circle of the Spieth, TJ, and Fowler group, but that doesn't mean he is hated by them. It doesn't mean they went, "Oh poor Kegan, let's make him captain." Like, that makes no sense at all. If it was a pity move, they would just push for him to be on the team this year not captain. Like, you go from a fringe player last year up to captain because of pity. I am sorry, I am not buying this. 

He has been on tour since 2008 (16 years). He has played on two Ryder Cup teams. 

What is the short list? I threw out past captains. 

Phil (12 Ryder Cups) - Currently in LIV
Tiger (8 Ryder Cups)
Fowler (5 Ryder Cups)
DJ (5 Ryder Cups) - Currently in LIV
Spieth (5 Ryder Cups)
Koepka (4 Ryder Cups) - Currently in LIV
Bubba Watson (4 Ryder Cups) - Currently in LIV
Hunter Mahan (3 Ryder Cups) 
Webb Simpson (3 Ryder Cups)
Justin Thomas (3 Ryder Cups)
Keegan Bradley (2 RC)
Patrick Cantlay (2 RC)
Chris DiMarco (2 RC)

Looking at past captains,

Azinger - 4 Ryder Cups
Crenshaw - 4 Ryder Cups
Furyk - 9 Ryder Cups
Floyd - 8 Ryder Cups
Lehman - 3 Ryder Cups

All the LIV players are out. Tiger is too busy this year to dedicate his time. Fowler, Spieth, and Thomas would play. 

Is your short list, Mahan, Simpson, or Bradley. Unless you want to go back to a previous captain like Furyk, Striker, Azinger, Lehman, Davis Love III? 

It doesn't seem that out of left field if you start listing people who meet some basic qualifications, like multiple Ryder Cup appearances as a player. 

[snapfade]

10 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

So, you want to see team USA fail? I see you are from the USA, glad to see you root against your own country. Do you wish USA fails in the Olympics? 

I never had any issue with him. Never rooted for him or against him. He was just another guy on tour. 

Gesture of kindness? I am not sure about that. You make it sound like he is unliked on the tour? He maybe is not in the inner circle of the Spieth, TJ, and Fowler group, but that doesn't mean he is hated by them. It doesn't mean they went, "Oh poor Kegan, let's make him captain." Like, that makes no sense at all. If it was a pity move, they would just push for him to be on the team this year not captain. Like, you go from a fringe player last year up to captain because of pity. I am sorry, I am not buying this. 

He has been on tour since 2008 (16 years). He has played on two Ryder Cup teams. 

What is the short list? I threw out past captains. 

Phil (12 Ryder Cups) - Currently in LIV
Tiger (8 Ryder Cups)
Fowler (5 Ryder Cups)
DJ (5 Ryder Cups) - Currently in LIV
Spieth (5 Ryder Cups)
Koepka (4 Ryder Cups) - Currently in LIV
Bubba Watson (4 Ryder Cups) - Currently in LIV
Hunter Mahan (3 Ryder Cups) 
Webb Simpson (3 Ryder Cups)
Justin Thomas (3 Ryder Cups)
Keegan Bradley (2 RC)
Patrick Cantlay (2 RC)
Chris DiMarco (2 RC)

Looking at past captains,

Azinger - 4 Ryder Cups
Crenshaw - 4 Ryder Cups
Furyk - 9 Ryder Cups
Floyd - 8 Ryder Cups
Lehman - 3 Ryder Cups

All the LIV players are out. Tiger is too busy this year to dedicate his time. Fowler, Spieth, and Thomas would play. 

Is your short list, Mahan, Simpson, or Bradley. Unless you want to go back to a previous captain like Furyk, Striker, Azinger, Lehman, Davis Love III? 

It doesn't seem that out of left field if you start listing people who meet some basic qualifications, like multiple Ryder Cup appearances as a player. 

I will go on record here as saying I do not care that much about the Ryder Cup. To me, and me only, it's not really a US vs. Europe in a sense. It's just a bunch of dudes that play each other every week and for one week every other year lets separate them and make a deal out of it. With the best players in the world playing on the PGAT it's inevitable they are always playing against each other. A good chunk of the European team liver here in the US. They play here so its not like they are strangers. I just can't get behind it.  Plus, as a duel citizen I can pull for either side. 

As for my thoughts on why Keegan was chosen. Just throwing stuff out there. I wasn't in the room when the decision was made so what do I know?  Bottom line is the players have to get out there and get the job done, 

And as for the Olympics. I only watch women's beach volleyball. Other than that could care less. 

[jmanbooyaa]

Keegan will bring passion and fire to the captaincy. I am in favor of this, let’s see his captains picks when the time comes. 

[boogielicious]

5 hours ago, snapfade said:

As for my thoughts on why Keegan was chosen. Just throwing stuff out there. I wasn't in the room when the decision was made so what do I know?

I think they chose by height. 😜

[elementz]

I know it is still over a year away but I will trust KB to make the right picks and not pick the "boys" like Spieth, JT, and Rickie.    Even if they don't qualify, you would think BAD and Koepka have to be a part of the team....assuming they keep their strong play going.

[iacas]

23 minutes ago, elementz said:

I know it is still over a year away but I will trust KB to make the right picks and not pick the "boys" like Spieth, JT, and Rickie.    Even if they don't qualify, you would think BAD and Koepka have to be a part of the team....assuming they keep their strong play going.

And if Rahm keeps up his play, maybe he won't be, ha ha.

Mostly joking. Unless he REALLY falls off, Luke will pick him.

[Vinsk]

I can see where it’s a tough call when it comes to choosing players aside from the obvious ones. Golf is a different animal. Some players just have the ability to excel when in the RC format even if their tour play hasn’t been stellar. Unfortunately the opposite can be true as well. I do think camaraderie plays a roll. Maybe KB can help create a better atmosphere being young and passionate. 

[klineka]

2 hours ago, elementz said:

I know it is still over a year away but I will trust KB to make the right picks and not pick the "boys" like Spieth, JT, and Rickie.    Even if they don't qualify, you would think BAD and Koepka have to be a part of the team....assuming they keep their strong play going.

Koepka isn't really playing that strongly though, at least not strongly enough to automatically give him a spot over a year from now. His best finish in a major this year is T26, and he has a total of 4 top 10s in 12 total events. 

Especially when compared to Bryson who has 8 top 10s in 12 starts and never finished worse than T27 in any event.

 

I discussed this back in the Ryder Cup thread, it's not as much of a boys club as people think when you actually looked at their stats

 

On 8/29/2023 at 1:31 PM, klineka said:

This is an absolutely absurd take IMO. You honestly think that JT not excusing himself from Ryder Cup consideration is immature? 

 

Again, another absolutely absurd take to call Zach Johnson clueless. It's Zach's job pick the 6 golfers that he thinks gives the team the best chance to win. Team chemistry matters. Experience and how well you pair with others matters. It's HIGHLY unlikely Zach made the JT decision on his own without consulting plenty of other people like assistant captains, stats guys, etc. Completely absurd to call him clueless unless you know something about his decision making process that I don't.

 

Ok, and if he performs well then he will prove Zach right. That goes both ways with every single borderline captain's pick in history.

 

Young hasn't has had 2 full seasons of good form either though. In a stretch of 7 starts after The Masters his best finish was T32 at the US Open with a bunch of 50-60th place finishes or MC. I'm not sure why you need to see at least 2 seasons of good form. Depending on how you define "good form", there are very very few players (not counting guys who automatically qualified) capable of playing great for 2 full seasons with no dip at all.

Rickie Fowler has been a better golfer this year than Cameron Young so not sure why you're using Rickie in the "popularity contest" argument.  In fact, per Total Strokes gained, Rickie has been better this season than Wyndham Clark, Keegan, Burns, JT, Spieth, Harman, Glover, Young, and only one-hundredth of a stroke behind Morikawa. So no, Rickie didn't make it because of it being a popularity contest. 

[GolfLug]

Only thing I will hate about the RC is I will be forced to root for BDC. 

On 7/9/2024 at 11:00 AM, snapfade said:

Bottom line is the players have to get out there and get the job done, 

So we agree on this a bit, but not completely. I listened to NLU cast with Eduardo Molinari about the behind the scenes of the last RC mauling of the US team and his detailed take on Luke and his prep/approach. I came away impressed. I have always thought that crowds are more influential on the player's mindset than the captain, but that conversation changed my mind on a few things. And not in a big brother way but a lot of nuts and bolts about how each player is playing to their strengths/weaknesses from a golf game (tangible)/mindset (intangible) perspectives and how they would pair with certain players. It was total science - worth a listen.

I'm hoping Keegan takes a similar new school approach. 

[Divot Master]

I heard that Keegan played college golf at St. Johns, and played the Black course a lot. Might have knowledge of ways to set the course up to favor the home team.