The uneasy nights are already beginning for Keegan Bradley, who admitted that he’s caught himself in bed thinking about everything from the golf balls players use to potential pairings.
And that’s just in his role as captain.
Bradley has more on his mind than just that this week at the BMW Championship, which also serves as the final week of automatic qualifying for his own team.
Bradley is 10th in the U.S. team standings, but he’s cooled off since his victory at the Travelers Championship in June. He has failed to finish better than 30th in his following four starts, and coupled with the emergence of players such as Cameron Young and Chris Gotterup, Bradley’s worthiness as a potential captain’s pick has been up for debate.
“We’re ready for this if it happens. I’m not sure it’s going to,” Bradley told reporters Wednesday at Caves Valley. “I can truly sit here right now and say I don’t know what’s going to happen. I have to look at myself just like any other player trying to make the team. I’m 10th in points right now, and that’s not sixth.”
Bradley said at the beginning of his captaincy that he would only consider playing on his own team if he made the team automatically, on points. That calculus started to change when he made a stunning rally to pass Tommy Fleetwood at the Travelers. Several players, including Patrick Cantlay and Rickie Fowler this week, threw their support behind Bradley as a potential playing captain, and even Rory McIlroy, the top player on the European side, said that Bradley is “definitely” among the 12 best Americans.
Still, Bradley said that his status as a player for the biennial matches is uncertain. He will make his six captain’s picks following next week’s Tour Championship.
“I’ve been saying all year you can’t expect to be on the team unless you’re in the top six,” Bradley said. “My goal is to go out there, whether I was Ryder Cup captain or not this week, and play well and play well next week at the Tour Championship as well.
“There’s definitely a lot more on my plate here these next couple of weeks. The Ryder Cup has always been so far away, and now it’s right there. Things are definitely amping up. I still have a lot to prove, just as well as everyone around me on the list.”
No matter the outcome, Bradley said that he takes immense pride in how he’s been able to perform inside the ropes this year, compartmentalizing his dual roles. He called it “one of my best years that I’ve ever had” – and that’s with the outside-the-ropes distraction of the captaincy.
“Things are definitely getting more difficult, but it is for everybody on the list of the Ryder Cup,” Bradley said. “When you’re trying to get a pick or trying to play your way onto the team, you feel like every round is Q-School. It’s not just difficult for me; it’s difficult for everybody that’s trying to make this team. I feel for them. I know that it’s like. I know people try to act like they’re OK, but they’re nervous every round, and that’s the way it should be.”
At No. 14 in the FedExCup standings, Bradley will play the first two rounds of the BMW alongside Maverick McNealy, another Ryder Cup hopeful.
