The former US Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson has warned Keegan Bradley of the obstacles facing him if he selects himself as one of six picks for the biennial clash. “You can’t be both,” he said.
Bradley will officially end months of conjecture when he announces his picks on Wednesday afternoon and appears set to name himself as the first player-captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963.
Watson, the eight-times major winner who played in four Ryder Cups as well as being both a winning and losing captain, said: “I could not have been a player-captain and the reason very simply is the scheduling, because the captain has to have his pairings in for the afternoon matches by 11am.
Watson is the latest former Ryder Cup captain to suggest that a dual role would be too much to take on
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“The last two morning matches are going on for sure and you want to have the latitude to say this player is not playing well. For instance, in 1993, Paul Azinger got blown out in his first match and I thought, ‘I’m going to sit Paul and let him recoup’. I had to make that decision, and if I was playing in a match, what a huge distraction that would have been. You can’t do it. You can’t be both.”
Bradley, the eighth highest-ranked US player in the world, seemed undecided after the Tour Championship on Sunday, saying he had shelved discussions with his vice-captains while the tournament was progressing. But he warned there would be “a few guys that think they are going to be on the team that aren’t going to be”. In a new interview with Golf Digest he also cited the support of his five vice-captains as a reason why the dual role was possible. “I still think [it] would be very challenging if that’s what happens, but I think it’s much more manageable now with these five guys behind me.”
Luke Donald, who will lead the European team again after overseeing victory in Rome two years ago, has agreed to a minor tweak to the captains’ agreement, allowing one of the US vice-captains to become the temporary captain if Bradley is playing. Jim Furyk has been designated for that role.
Donald, left, will lead Europe again after victory two years ago
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Watson is the latest former Ryder Cup captain to suggest Bradley is about to take on too much. Padraig Harrington, who was the losing captain to Furyk’s US team in 2021, said: “I do not in any shape or form think a captain can be a player.”
Bradley can justifiably regard himself as one of the best 12 players in the US, and the PGA of America has been anticipating the possibility of having a player-captain ever since his appointment last year. Since then, Bradley has strengthened his case by winning twice on the PGA Tour.
He will make his picks live on the Golf Channel from the PGA of America’s headquarters in Frisco, Texas, from 4pm. The next six men in the Ryder Cup rankings after the automatic selections are Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Ben Griffin, Maverick McNealy, Bradley and Brian Harman. Others in the frame are Patrick Cantlay, Sam Burns and Cameron Young.