[PHOTO: Mike Mulholland]
For years, a persistent narrative has suggested that the Ryder Cup pits 12 individual Americans against a unified European team – a dynamic often cited to explain Europe’s tendency to exceed expectations in the biennial competition. Against this backdrop, Keegan Bradley‘s recent comments offer hope for American supporters who have long wished their team could replicate the camaraderie that seems to define the European locker room.
Bradley is not playing in this week’s PGA Tour Procure Championship, but the United States captain has gathered his team at the event in Napa, California, for them to stay competitively sharp as well as to get a jumpstart on bonding. Even Bryson DeChambeau, who is suspended by the tour for his defection to LIV Golf, has been on site for meetings and a dinner. (The lone absence is Xander Schauffele, who is at home after his wife gave birth.) Speaking overnight, Australian time, about how the team is coming together, Bradley asserted that he likes what he sees.
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“These guys are, they really care about one another, they treat each other with respect. It’s the closest team I’ve ever seen,” Bradley said. “Our Presidents Cup team last year was easily the best team room I’ve ever been a part of. Something that you really dream about as a kid with these team events. This group is looks a little different on paper, but it’s still the same dynamic.
“This group of players, they’re truly friends and they’re friends off the golf course, which in my teams that I played before this, I don’t know if we exactly had that as much as this group does. They really care about one another. And the thing that I’ve noticed that’s most impressive is they really pull for each other and they want each other to do well. When I was playing, I wasn’t really pulling for anybody, I was wanting to beat and play my best. These guys, they’re genuinely excited for their friend that wins a tournament and that’s really great.”
Bradley said playing in Napa – an event most of the top players have historically skipped – was a priority for him after being named captain, an upshot from concerns that most American players didn’t arrive in Rome in 2023 in the best playing shape after a competitive layoff. Asking guys to add another stop in an already jam-packed schedule is not the easiest of moves, although Bradley asserted the buy-in was universal.
“They really, they all love golf, too, so what an opportunity for them. They’re all staying together this week. They have a great time,” Bradley explained. “For me, I’m stressed out about playing, I’m practising. They’re like another week to hang and get a team bonding. Things happen a lot easier when the players want to do it. They’re a good group, they want to be here.”
The United States, similar to what their European counterparts are doing at this week’s DP World Tour BMW Championship, are using the Procure as a Ryder Cup practice of sorts, with Bradley and event officials pairing American players together in the first and second rounds. Those pairings include: Scottie Scheffler, Russell Henley and J.J. Spaun; Justin Thomas, Cam Young and Ben Griffin; Collin Morikawa and Harris English; Sam Burns and Patrick Cantlay. Though sometimes too much can be made about looking at pairings, Bradley said he’s pretty much locked in with his line-up.
“We’re 90 percent, I’d say,” Bradley said. “One of our goals was to have the guys prepared, ready to know who they’re playing with. Especially in alternate shot, I think that’s more important. I think best-ball you can have a little more leeway there, but we’re pretty set here with what we’re going to do.
“I think the more times we’re together, the better,” Bradley continued. “We have a big chunk of our team in Jupiter as well and we’re all together a lot. These guys are, they know each other so well too, but I think it’s really important for us to all be together with the caddies, with the group that’s going to be on the course at Bethpage. The more you’re together, the more the rookies are around Scottie and J.T, Patrick, the guys that are veterans, the better, the more comfortable they feel. I think this setting is great because it’s outside the bubble of the Ryder Cup where the stress is high and we’re able to see the guys relax and talk to each other. I think it’s really important. I selfishly wish when I played [on] these teams that I had these weeks because it’s really a fun time to all be together.”
The Europeans enter as defending champions, although the Americans have won three of the past four Ryder Cups on US soil. One of the last scenes in Rome was Rory McIlroy declaring the Europeans would defend their title at Bethpage. But for those looking for Bradley to produce similar bulletin-board material, keep looking.
“I don’t care what Europe is doing. I only care about our 12 guys, our caddies, the wives. I only care about what we’re doing,” Bradley said. “They’re a confident group, they should be. They won the last Ryder Cup, their team is solid. Luke Donald is maybe the best captain ever, somebody that I’ve always looked up to. So they should be confident but I’m not really – I really don’t care what they say about us, I only care about our team.”
