“Of course I want to go out there and make history tomorrow,” Keegan Bradley reflected after another tough Ryder Cup day. “They all do. But I think you’ve got to relish in the opportunity to get out on the course tomorrow and play for your country at a course.”
The Team USA captain was looking shell-shocked after his side lost their fourth straight set of matches, at Bethpage Black in New York. No matter the player combinations he mustered, Team Europe were inspired, determined and sank more clutch putts.
Bradley’s team trail the Europeans 11.5 to 4.5 with 12 singles match to go, on Sunday. Europe need 2.5 to retain the trophy they won at Marco Simone, in 2023, and three points to win outright. Both captains are going with their big names first in Sunday Singles and it will need a historic comeback from the Americans to get out of this situation.
Bradley acknowledged the dicey spot his team had found themselves in, when he spoke with reporters on Saturday evening, as well as praising the Europeans for their “incredible” play. As a keen New England Patriots fan, Bradley harkened back to a couple of the NFL side’s famous Super Bowl comebacks. Asked what his message to a bedraggled team was, Bradley replied:
The message was, I was at that 28-3 game against the Falcons [when the Patriots came back to win]. I was there. I was also at the game where Malcolm Butler intercepted Russell Wilson against the Seahawks.
But my message was, if you were a 16-year-old kid, and you were going to get to go play for your country in singles in New York at Bethpage Black, you would be so excited.”
That excitement may soon been tempered by another fast European start. Luke Donald is pushing out Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood, Matt Fitzpatrick and Jon Rahm in his first four pairings, with Jon Rahm and Ludvig Aberg following. Going into the singles, five American players have, so far, contributed zero points.
The final singles pairing should be Harris English going up against Norway’s Viktor Hovland, who pulled out of his Saturday fourballs match with a neck injury. Questions about whether Hovland would play, or not, and if Bradley would have to bench one of his 12 players seemed to take the American by surprise.
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Keegan Bradley surprised by envelope question
Viktor Hovland and Robert MacIntyre defeated Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley 1-UP in their Saturday morning foursomes encounter. Hovland was nursing a sore neck through that match but was slated to go off in the afternoon fourballs with Matt Fitzpatrick.
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Luke Donald was forced into a late switch – Tyrrell Hatton replacing Hovland – and it worked out well with the Englishmen delivering another full point for Europe.
In his press conference, Donald explained, “Viktor was feeling quite uncomfortable in the middle of the round this morning. He got some physio. He was given a lot of anti-inflammatories during the round… it was a last-minute decision to switch him out. Tyrrell literally warmed up for about ten minutes. We knew it was a possibility, but we were hoping that he would play.
“He is on his way now to go get an MRI, another 20, 30 minutes away, and we’ll see in the morning what he’s like. It’s definitely stiffened up a little bit. He would love to play, and he’ll do everything he can to play.”
There is a Ryder Cup contingency that allows teams to cope with an injured player. In advance of the event, both captains are asked to put the name of one of their 12 players in an envelope. The envelope will only be opened if a player from the opposing team is unable to play his singles match.
In this circumstance, it would mean that whatever player Bradley picked to go in the envelope would be withdrawn from singles. The Hovland match would be automatically shared as a half-point for each team.
Interestingly, Keegan Bradley came across as upset [final Q&A here] when he was asked about the Hovland situation. Here is how the exchange went down between Bradley at a reporter at the press briefing.
Q. Along those lines, there’s a chance you might have to sit someone – take a name from the envelope – because Viktor is hurt. Have you talked to that player already?
Keegan Bradley: “No. I… we need to go out there and play this tournament the way it was supposed to be played. I have to go figure this out now. I’m still learning what’s going on. I don’t know how that’s going to end up. We’ll see in a few minutes.”
Perhaps it was a poor choice of words, but Bradley admitting he was ‘still learning what’s going on’ did not reflect well on the Team USA captain. Placing a player’s name in an envelope is a long-standing Ryder Cup rule, and he would have ben made aware of it, well in advance of this weekend.
UPDATE:Â Viktor Hovland was ultimately ruled out of the Sunday singles, with his opponent, Harris English being confirmed as the name in the envelope, and the man to miss out on a final day match.
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