Keegan Bradley’s return to glory comes with 1 surprising regret

MONTREAL — If you leave the Royal Montreal Golf Club, head south onto Autoroute 35, cross the border at Highgate Springs, drive 100 miles and take a right you’ll get to the leafy small town of Woodstock, Vt. Hit the road at the right time and the entire trip might take you less than three hours.

It’s no wonder Keegan Bradley feels like this week, he’s come home.

Bradley isn’t supposed to be on this U.S. Presidents Cup team. Not really. There’s been so much turnover on these U.S. rosters that nobody’s still around from his generation. Go back a few years to the 2017 Presidents Cup and you’ll find there’s nobody left from that U.S. team. Same for the 2016 Ryder Cup. And the 2015 Presidents Cup. But check out the team photo from the 2014 Ryder Cup and you’ll find a 28-year-old Bradley sporting the red, white and blue, in the midst of his favorite week of the year. At the time he assumed he’d be there every year, on every one of these teams for the next decade-plus.

Instead it took a decade to get back.

And so, when the 38-year-old from Woodstock poured in a putt for birdie on the first hole of his Thursday four-ball match, he let out a scream and a giant fist pump. And when he dripped a curling 20-footer into the middle of the cup on 18, securing a 1-up victory and a 5-0 U.S. sweep, he lost his mind.

“It was 10 years of pent-up energy of not playing these,” Bradley said post-round. “I just had such a blast out there today.”

Bradley’s relationship with the U.S. team has been well documented. His obsession with making the Ryder Cup roster was so all-consuming it bled into every part of his life. When he was left off last year’s Ryder Cup, it nearly broke him. But then, in a shocking turn of events, he found his role: this year he was named the U.S. Ryder Cup captain for next year’s match at Bethpage. And then he found his game, winning the BMW Championship in August to fight his way on this year’s Presidents Cup team. He’s been trying to stop and smell the roses every minute since.

“Well, this morning when I heard the National Anthem and I was seeing the boys getting ready, I was really emotional. It really took me by surprise,” he said. “There was a point in my life I never thought I’d get to do this again.

It looked different this time around than in 2014. In his years on Ryder and Presidents Cup teams, Bradley was always paired with Phil Mickelson, an electric partnership he says he took for granted, going to battle with “one of the greatest players to ever touch a club.” But there’s beauty in the new, too.

“I haven’t played much with Wyndham, and now I know why he’s so good,” Bradley said, referring to four-ball partner Wyndham Clark. “He hits a lot of good shots and makes a lot of putts.”

On Thursday Bradley made his fair share of putts, too. More than his fair share. He canned six putts of 10 feet or more, including one at the first and one at the last. That meant plenty of chances to let his teammates and his fans know just how much it meant to be back.

There’s an irony to Bradley’s return: For all those years, he wanted to play his way onto these teams to prove he was one of the guys who belonged. But that group of guys he’d dreamt of joining? They’re all gone. This is a brand-new crop. That doesn’t make it any less satisfying, but it gives him a different perspective. He described admiration — mixed with some regret.

“To be able to be out here with a totally new group of guys, and I’m not afraid to say, I’m 38 years old, and I look up to all these players here. It’s really been an inspiring week for me, on and off the golf course. I just love being around them. They’re funny, they’re fun, and I just am really proud to be in the same room with them playing this tournament.”

That was the admiration. The regret:

“Truthfully on a serious note, what I’ve learned is how much these guys care for each other,” he said. “I was of an era, I guess, where I felt like everyone I was playing against was my enemy, and I really regret that. These guys care about each other. They want to beat them inside the ropes bad, but when they get outside the ropes, they’re friends, the wives are friends. It’s a much happier way to go about this life.”

Bradley is ultra-competitive. He’s also ultra-anxious. He’s loved his golfing life but it’s never been easy. Late in Thursday’s press conference he was asked about his appearance in Netflix’s Full Swing, which showcased his heartbreak but also his off-course persona.

“I have a really hard time being myself at golf tournaments,” he added. “I’m a nervous wreck. I felt like [Netflix] was an opportunity to show people the real me, how I am off the golf course. That’s what I’m so jealous of these guys. They’re themselves on and off the golf course.”

Those guys surrounded Bradley in the fading light on the 18th green, lining up to offer congratulations to their newest, oldest teammate. Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa and more, the best players in the world, his peers. They knew how much it meant for him to be there, not just participating but contributing. Being here means more to them, knowing how much it means to him. Three hours from where he grew up. Right at home.

Dylan Dethier welcomes your comments at dylan_dethier@golf.com.