U.S. captain Keegan Bradley decided the best way to win back the Ryder Cup was to leave his golf clubs at home.
Bradley filled out his 12-man roster Wednesday with six captain’s picks that did not include himself. He had considered becoming the first playing captain of the Ryder Cup since Arnold Palmer in 1963 at East Lake.
Instead, Bradley went with a pair of Ryder Cup rookies in New York native Cameron Young and Ben Griffin, who finished at No. 9 in the standings. Joining them as picks will be Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Sam Burns and Patrick Cantlay. The six Americans who qualified for the other slots were Scottie Scheffler, J.J. Spaun, Xander Schauffele, Harris English, Bryson DeChambeau and Russell Henley.
That gives the Americans four Ryder Cup rookies for the Sept. 26-28 matches against Europe, which will announce the rest of its team on Monday. Europe is likely to return 11 of the 12 players who won in Rome two years ago.
Bradley made a compelling case as a pick, and he likely would have been chosen without much argument if he had not been captain. He has won twice in the last 13 months against strong fields — only Scheffler has won more since then. He finished at No. 11 in the Ryder Cup standings and was the eighth-best American in the world ranking.
Instead, he will stick to being captain, a decision that is sure to be second-guessed if the Americans don’t win.
Bradley was set to make his six picks Wednesday morning for the Sept. 26-28 matches on New York’s Long Island, and the suspense was greater than usual because of one player — the captain. At stake was whether Bradley would pick himself and become the first playing captain in 62 years at the Ryder Cup.
“I’m going to be defined by this decision,” Bradley said last week at the Tour Championship in Atlanta.
On his record alone, the 39-year-old Bradley made an easy case as a pick. He is the eighth-best American in the world ranking. He has won twice in the last 13 months against the best players — only Scottie Scheffler has more PGA Tour wins in that span.
But he’s the captain, and there’s a lot on his plate.
Palmer, in 1963 at East Lake, was the last playing captain in the Ryder Cup, but it was a far different era. There were no captain’s picks back then. Palmer played six times that week – there are only five sessions now.
And the Ryder Cup was a mismatch, the Americans against Great Britain and Ireland, which did not have the depth just two decades after World War II ended. Continental Europe joined the side in 1979, and it has dominated this competition for the last 40 years.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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