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Keegan Bradley would not have even considered himself to play in his own Ryder Cup team had he not won a tournament before September’s showpiece
In fact, this has been the only year in his recent existence in professional golf in which he has not fervently pursued a place in the American side.
So now what?
Well, Bradley has now admitted that his second victory in three years at the Travelers Championship has changed the state of play completely ahead of the looming match at Bethpage Black.
The 39-year-old broke Tommy Fleetwood’s heart as he snatched the $20m PGA Tour event in dramatic fashion at TPC River Highlands in Connecticut on Sunday.
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With his eighth PGA Tour victory, Bradley is up to a career-high ranking of world No.7, but more importantly has leapt to ninth in the US Ryder Cup standings and has emerged as one of the form players for the Stars and Stripes.
That has opened the door to Bradley being the first playing-captain of a Ryder Cup team since a 34-year-old Arnold Palmer in 1963.
“Listen, this changes the story a little bit,” said Bradley.
“I never would have thought about playing if I hadn’t won. This definitely opens the door to play. I don’t know if I’m going to do it or not, but I certainly have to take a pretty hard look at what’s best for the team and we’ll see.
“When the PGA of America called me, and Zach Johnson was on the call, Seth Waugh (former PGA of America CEO) was the person who called me.
“The first thing he said was ‘we want you to be the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer, which is a heavy burden’.
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“But, you know, I’m also fortunate, if Tiger [Woods] or Phil [Mickelson] or these guys got a captaincy at my age, they would have done it the same way. I’ve just been lucky enough to be asked to do this at a younger age.
“To be honest with you, I never really planned on playing. I really wanted to just be the captain. I really felt strongly about that. I want to serve the guys. They asked me to do a job. I want to do it to the best of my abilities.”
The growing possibility of Bradley now competing raises an intriguing question about how he will delegate leadership roles in the event he is teeing it up in the heat of battle.
Bradley seemed to hint that one of his vice-captains, such as Jim Furyk, could step up as an auxiliary captain if he assumes a rare dual role on Long Island.
“With the amazing vice-captains that I have, and I have a better perspective of playing in the Presidents Cup and being around a lot of the guys, I feel a lot more comfortable if I went that route,” he added.
“I’m really proud of the guys that are vice captains, including Jim Furyk, one of the greatest players to play and also an incredibly great captain at the Presidents Cup.”
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