Welcome! Where are you, you ask. I’m calling this the Weekend 9. Think of it as a spot to warm you up for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We’ll have thoughts. We’ll have tips. We’ll have tweets. But just nine in all, though sometimes maybe more and sometimes maybe less. As for who I am? The paragraphs below tell some of the story. I can be reached at nick.piastowski@golf.com.
Of all the words Keegan Bradley said Wednesday during his captain’s picks press conference — around 10,000, according to the transcript — four struck me. Before saying them, he paused. After saying them, he laughed.
“I’m glad it’s over.”
Was he being serious? Or was he being humorous? Did he like selecting six Americans for next month’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black? Or did he loathe telling other fellow countrymen that they fell short? In this case, all are likely true. As is this: The decision is, in fact, over, which begs another question:
How’d he do?
To me, three subjects were covered Wednesday. Let’s try to grade them.
Keegan Bradley didn’t pick Keegan Bradley
Why, according to Bradley: “I grew up wanting to play Ryder Cups. I grew up wanting to fight alongside these guys. It broke my heart not to play. It really did. You work forever to make these teams, but ultimately I was chosen to do a job. I was chosen to be the captain of this team. My ultimate goal to start this thing was to be the best captain that I could be. This is how I felt like I could do this. If we got to this point and I felt like the team was better with me on it, I was going to do that. I was going to do whatever I thought was best for this team. I know 100 percent for certain that this is the right choice, and these six guys, again, played so incredibly coming down the stretch here and made my decision a lot easier.”
Grade: Let’s call the decision a B-plus. Here were the other choices:
– He could have picked himself and continued to be captain. This one would’ve been a B. Say what you will about just how important a captain is, there is still a time commitment. More than likely, his vice captains would have stepped up. But focus on his own game would have likely suffered. Then again, as GOLF’s Sean Zak wrote earlier this week, watching Keegan Bradley as playing captain would’ve been great theater.
– He could have picked himself and delegated all the captain’s responsibilities to a vice captain. This one would have been an A. It alleviates the playing focus concern. You’re also still the captain, though in name alone.
– He could have turned down the PGA of America’s offer to be captain. This one would have been a B, too, though it obviously would’ve had to have been decided last year. While the chance to lead the Americans is extraordinarily special, it also paused the dream to play. Here, I’ll point you to a story from GOLF’s Dylan Dethier headlined: “Keegan Bradley got robbed of his Ryder Cup dream. He’s built a new one,” and it can be read here.
– In the end, he chose Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Ben Griffin, Cameron Young, Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns. I like the idea that it motivates them, with their thoughts being: If he chose me over himself, I have to deliver. It’s the safe play. In golf, that kind of thing can be appreciated.
The question is, who would Bradley have dropped from the players he picked? You could argue anyone outside of Thomas, though it’s tough. Does Bradley choose himself over Morikawa or Cantlay, who each haven’t won this year? Maybe, but Morikawa also is one of the best ball-strikers on the planet, and Cantlay is 5-2-1 in two Ryder Cup appearances (and 10-4 over three Presidents Cups). Does Bradley choose himself over Griffin or Young, both Ryder Cup newcomers? Maybe, but Griffin also has won twice this year, and Young has been one of golf’s hottest players over the past month. What about Burns? I think Bradley’s choice was here, and he went with the PGA Tour’s leader this season in Strokes Gained: Putting.
Keegan Bradley also didn’t choose Maverick McNealy, Chris Gotterup and others
Said Bradley when asked about McNealy: “Very, very difficult call to call Mav. Incredible kid, played well all year long. I was very up front with the guys that haven’t made the team before. You really have to, in most cases, make the team on points in your first team. It’s really difficult to get a pick in your first team event. I made that very clear to him, and he still played great.
I played with him a bunch of times this year. I’m really impressed with his game. I told him it’s OK to be angry. I left these calls really angry most times. You can use this as fuel. I said, please be angry with me and make the next team. Make [the] Presidents Cup team. I used that as fuel most of my career, and I advised Mav to do the same thing. He made a great run at making this team, and ultimately that was a really tough decision.”
Grade: B-plus, given his options. I think McNealy, Gotterup and Andrew Novak could make a Ryder Cup team down the road, but the six players chosen are solid.
I do wonder, though, what the picks would have looked like if Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth, Will Zalatoris, Max Homa, Patrick Reed, Tony Finau and Sahith Theegala were among the top 25 in points.
