Selfless captaincy call shows new attitude to Ryder Cup

Keegan Bradley chose not to become the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer 62 years ago, writes Lawrence Ostlere

- By Lawrence Ostlere

When the golfing world tuned in to Keegan Bradley's press conference yesterday to learn his six captain's picks for the US Ryder Cup team, the “will he, won't he” question still hung in the air unanswered. Would Bradley pick himself as the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963?

In the end, the cat slipped out of the bag accidentally, halfway through a rather awkward process of Zoom-calling each player to hear their thoughts. Bradley’s fourth pick, Cameron Young, was asked if his Ryder Cup teammates knew he had won the junior Ryder Cup in the past. “Sam played with me, so he will remember it,” said Young. “Sam” referred to Sam Burns, who hadn’t yet been announced. With Burns therefore included, and Patrick Cantlay highly likely to be on the team, that left no room for Bradley to choose himself.

“I’m glad it’s over,” Bradley smiled, once Burns was confirmed, as golf’s biggest talking point of the past few weeks was finally put to bed.

In truth, Bradley made the decision not to play some time ago. Yes, he had considered himself a genuine option to play, he admitted, particularly earlier in the season and after his win at the Travelers Championship got tongues wagging. But the late-season form of Cantlay, Young and Burns made the call much simpler to make.

“These guys stepped up and played their way onto the team,” he said. “I’m extremely proud of that. It was a difficult decision but one I’m happy with ... If the team was better with me on it, I'd do that. I know 100 per cent this is the right choice. They played incredibly down the stretch to make my decision easier.”