Keegan Bradley left East Lake on Sunday night with many things.<\/p>\n
Clarity was not among them.<\/p>\n
Bradley\u2019s T-7 finish at the Tour Championship, along with nice finishes from several potential U.S. Ryder Cup captain\u2019s picks, means that the American skipper\u2019s job these next couple days \u2013 until the six picks are revealed on Wednesday morning \u2013 will be unenviable.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think no matter what decision that I make here, I could have gone the other way easily, no matter what,\u201d Bradley said. \u201cThe only thing I care about is on Sunday of the Ryder Cup, that we win the Ryder Cup. Then I\u2019ll know I made the right decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bradley said he\u2019d not been communicating with his assistant captains while he competed at East Lake, but he planned to call them Sunday night to begin the 48-hour deliberations.<\/p>\n
\u201cSaw a lot of Americans play great today, which makes me happy,\u201d Bradley added.<\/p>\n
Albeit Bradley\u2019s decisions tougher.<\/p>\n
There are arguably eight players still with legitimate shots at earning one of Bradley\u2019s six picks; Bradley is one of them. Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay, the latter of whom tied for second at East Lake, are perceived locks, especially considering the two have combined to go 12-6-3 in Ryder Cups.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously anything can happen, but I feel pretty good about it,\u201d Thomas said after his own T-7 at East Lake.<\/p>\n
As for the remaining four picks, here are the quick cases for and against each contender:<\/p>\n
Collin Morikawa<\/p>\n
Tour Championship finish: T-19<\/p>\n
Why he\u2019ll be picked: Was one of the best players in the world through the Masters with two runners-up and nothing worse than T-17, and his inclusion means getting another guy with a winning record (4-3-1) on the team and who has an elite skill (third in strokes gained approach).<\/p>\n
Why he won\u2019t be picked: T-19 at 30-man Tour Championship was his first top-20 finish since the Rocket Classic in June, and he just wrapped up his worst putting season since 2020-21. Plus, with Bethpage demanding length, Morikawa is the shortest among this bunch.<\/p>\n
What he said Sunday: \u201cI haven\u2019t been playing great, but I think I\u2019m a great asset to that team. Hopefully I get a positive call from Keegan. \u2026 Look, at the end of the day, he\u2019s going to do what\u2019s best for the team, and we\u2019re going to see how that plays out. I really hope I\u2019m part of that because the past four years of team events that I\u2019ve been a part of, they\u2019re the best. They sometimes wake you up and snap you back into the type of golfer you need to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ben Griffin<\/p>\n
Tour Championship finish: T-10<\/p>\n
Why he\u2019ll be picked: Not only among the few potential picks with a win this season, but he also captured the Zurich alongside partner Andrew Novak. He had two top-10s in majors and his T-10 at East Lake marked his 12th top-15 finish in his last 14 starts.<\/p>\n
Why he won\u2019t be picked: Don\u2019t want to leave this section blank, so I\u2019m writing this sentence. Seriously, though, all that\u2019s working against him is he\u2019d be a cup rookie.<\/p>\n
What he said Sunday: \u201cIt\u2019s going to be an anxious 24 to 48 hours. I wouldn\u2019t say stressful because I feel like I\u2019m too blessed to be stressed. But definitely anxious just to see if I earned a spot on that team or not, or if Keegan believes in me. I know I\u2019ve been able to handle some big moments this season. I know I\u2019ll be comfortable on that stage at Bethpage, and hopefully I can start practicing 48 hours from now and start getting ready for that Ryder Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sam Burns<\/p>\n
Tour Championship finish: T-7<\/p>\n
Why he\u2019ll be picked: Hasn\u2019t missed a cut since prior to the Masters, which means he made all four major cuts. He was a poor Sunday finish away from potentially winning the U.S. Open, where he tied for seventh. He ranks as the Tour\u2019s best putter in terms of strokes gained. And oh, he\u2019s an ideal partner for the world No. 1.<\/p>\n
Why he won\u2019t be picked: Among those winless this year, and he was worst among the real contenders for picks in points, at No. 16.<\/p>\n
What he said Sunday: \u201cUnfortunately, I didn\u2019t put myself in a position to be an automatic qualifier. I think it takes a lot of stress off certainly this week and last week to be in that position. But you know what, I tried to focus on coming into the playoffs and trying to play some solid golf, and hopefully it\u2019s enough. \u2026 100% trust in Keegan. I know whatever decision he makes is going to be one that he thinks is best for the team. Ultimately, I\u2019m Team USA. If I\u2019m on the team, awesome. I would love nothing more. If I\u2019m not, I\u2019ll be rooting for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cameron Young<\/p>\n
Tour Championship finish: T-4<\/p>\n
Why he\u2019ll be picked: If Bradley wants to ride the hot hand, Young owns five top-5s, including a win at Wyndham, in his last eight starts. He\u2019s also 4-0 against Bradley in their last four common events, so he\u2019s at least got the recent leg up over the captain. And like Burns, he\u2019s a top-10 putter on Tour. Not to mention the obvious course fit of Bethpage.<\/p>\n
Why he won\u2019t be picked: Didn\u2019t turn it on until halfway through the summer, and for as great as he\u2019s been recently, he\u2019s 4-8 against Burns over their last 12 common events. Also fits a similar player profile as Burns, so it could be one or the other.<\/p>\n
What he said Sunday: \u201cI have no idea when I will get that call, and I have no idea what it will say. I mean, mainly, like you said, just waiting around for that. \u2026 I really, really want to make that team. If that call goes the wrong way in my opinion, it\u2019s going to be a bit of a hard one to take. I feel like I\u2019ve done everything you could ask of me to make that team over the last four weeks, and then if you look back further, really half a season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Keegan Bradley<\/p>\n
Tour Championship finish: T-7<\/p>\n
Why he\u2019ll be picked: It seems like he\u2019s had great support to be the first playing captain in over 60 years since winning the Travelers in late June. Contending at East Lake through 54 holes only reignited those flames. He also finished the BMW as No. 11 in U.S. Ryder Cup points, ahead of Young and Burns.<\/p>\n
Why he won\u2019t be picked: Didn\u2019t have a top-25 finish post-Travelers until his T-17 at the 50-man BMW and T-7 at the 30-man Tour Championship. That explains why he doesn\u2019t crack the top 12 Americans in Data Golf\u2019s ranking or trend table. Also, we mentioned Young\u2019s recency advantage of him. Burns might be 3-4-2 against the captain in their last nine, but he\u2019s 8-7-2 versus Bradley this year.<\/p>\n
What he said Sunday: \u201cI\u2019ve gone through a lot of stuff this year, I didn\u2019t know how I was going to handle it. Proud of the way I did. This is a whole \u2018nother animal. I have no clue. This is going to be really difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maverick McNealy<\/p>\n
Tour Championship finish: T-23<\/p>\n
Why he\u2019ll be picked: Over his last 25 common tournaments, he has better head-to-head records against Thomas, Cantlay, Bradley, Burns and Young. He also finished 10th in points, so it\u2019s not like he wasn\u2019t among the best 12 Americans during the qualification period.<\/p>\n
Why he won\u2019t be picked: No wins this year, and though he made the cut in all four majors, he didn\u2019t post a top-20 finish at any of them. Also needed to finish better at East Lake following a solo third at BMW.<\/p>\n
What he said Sunday: \u201cI promise you I gave it everything I had this year, and if I get a call that I\u2019m on that team, I\u2019ll do everything I can to be ready on that first tee. It\u2019s out of my hands. I think there\u2019s a lot of players playing well on the U.S. side, so that\u2019s great news. \u2026 Nobody wants to win the Ryder Cup more than Keegan Bradley. I know he\u2019s going to make the decision that\u2019s best for the team.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Keegan Bradley left East Lake on Sunday night with many things. Clarity was not among them. Bradley\u2019s T-7…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":91698,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-91697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91697\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}