Currently eleventh in the American ranking for the 44th Ryder Cup in history (the first six directly qualified, the other six chosen by captain Zach Johnson), Keegan Bradley, 37, is potentially concerned by this biennial confrontation against the Europeans (29 Se ptember-October 1 at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome).
Keegan Bradley, statements
Presenting this week in Illinois for the second part (in three acts) of the FedEx Cup playoffs, Bradley did not hide his enthusiasm at the idea of participating in the event.
Nine years after his last appearance at Gleneagles (Scotland). It was he who had “validated” the defeat of the Americans in 2014, beaten in singles on the hole n ° 15 by the Welshman Jamie Donaldson.”The only place I want to be right now is on this Ryder Cup team,” he said ahead of the BMW Championship.
I think of the Ryder Cup every day. As soon as I wake up, that’s what I think about. The hardest thing for me is not thinking about it while I’m playing”, “It’s very important to me,” he continued. I know I could bring my experience.
So yes, I would like to be part of this group that combines youth and talent. All the guys I knew when I was in this team evolve today either on the senior Tour or have hung up”. Eleventh in the FedEx Cup, the veteran winner of the 2011 PGA Championship knows that a possible “selection” will necessarily go through convincing results during these FedEx Cup playoffs.
He is aware of it. Will that be enough to convince Zach Johnson to take her with him to Rome? Not sure ! “Zach and the vice-captains are not going to choose a player solely based on their presence in these playoffs, warns Bradley .
I’m sure they also work on the human aspect of things, being a good teammate, a good playing partner… I think I could be a good partner for a lot of guys. »“I think this younger core of players ( those who just won at Whistling Straits in 2021) is really cool because they all seem to really pull each other up.
It would be nice to be part of it and feel that too. »However, the competition promises to be fierce, even ruthless. Other big names in US golf are indeed in the same situation. Let us quote Lucas Glover, who has just won the last two tournaments on the PGA Tour (Wyndham Championship then FedEx St.
Jude Championship), Justin Thomas, Sam Burns (winner of the WGC-Match in March in Austin), Rickie Fowler or Tony Finau …