Thoughts on Keegan’s Dilemma
Sports often replicate situations that you'd face professionally - and for pro athletes, their workplace just so happens to be broadcast live most of the time, something most of us are spared from.
Right now, Keegan Bradley is facing one of the most complicated, both personally and professionally, decisions imaginable as he tries to select the final six spots on the USA Ryder Cup Team - the difficult part is that he is playing some of the best golf of his career and currently sits eleventh on the points total for the team. If he weren't the captain, the data, his desire to win for Team USA, and his reputation amongst his peers would almost certainly cement his spot on the squad.
If he chooses to play, he would become the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963, although Tiger Woods served as a playing captain in the 2019 Presidents Cup, where he delivered a win for the USA.
Keegan was left off the 2023 team, a move that received significant criticism, with many feeling that Jim Furyk prioritized maintaining the "boy's club" over form, favoring locker room guys like Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas. Keegan was crushed; his reaction to receiving the call from Furyk was documented in the Netflix series "Full Swing" and when he was named captain of the team, the golf world felt that it was a make-up call of sorts.
So now, at a time when he has played well enough to be on the team, coming off a recent snub, and having been given the honor of captaining golf's most prized team event, Keegan has to balance the duties of that role and his desire to suit up at Bethpage Black this September.
His decision to play - or not - will receive scrutiny either way. The Euro team can't even fathom the idea of their captain playing due to the demanding schedule; Rory McIlroy recently commented publicly that the idea of him being a playing captain in the coming years has already been brought up and promptly shut down by the world number two, because he simply doesn't think it's possible to do both.
If Keegan plays, the upside is increased emotion, momentum, his form and talent, etc. The downside is that it gives the European team a chance to take him down early in the event and mount a trophy in their locker room.
My gut says that the risk isn't worth the potential reward due to the depth of the American golfers, and that Keegan should fully embrace the role of captain and enjoy bringing the Ryder Cup back home. My brain is telling me that Keegan can't pass up the opportunity to play for the USA again - and I can't really blame him, after all, even the President supports him doing it.
If it were up to me, my picks would be:
- JT
- Ben Griffin
- Cam Young (+1.85 SG over the last 20 rounds)
- Rickie Fowler (+1.86 SG over the last 20 rounds)
- Akshay Bahtia
- Mav McNealy
I'm fully aware that it is a controversial list; Keegan will probably go with JT, Griffin, Young, Morikawa, Burns, and himself.
