GOLF: RYDER CUP KEEGAN LAYS UP

Captain chooses safe option

- by NEIL MCLEMAN

IN the end, the risk of picking himself to be the first playing Ryder Cup skipper since Arnold Palmer was greater than any potential reward.

And Keegan Bradley's calculated decision not to tee up at Bethpage Black brings an end to the chaos surrounding the American captaincy - for now.

Until the arrival of LIV Golf, Phil Mickelson and Ian Poulter were slated to be the two firebrand skippers on Long Island.

Then the PGA of America unsuccessfully tried to convince Tiger Woods to take the job on home soil. So the USA, who set up a task force after the 2014 Gleneagles defeat to seek continuity, went for the left-field pick of Bradley.