How Much Blame Does Keegan Bradley Deserve For Ryder Cup Loss?

You have to hurt for Keegan Bradley.

Bradley went 0-2 as a Ryder Cup player, including a gut wrenching loss in 2012 as the Europeans rallied for victory at Medinah.

His two appearances in 2012 and 2014 were likely the only times he’ll get to play in the event. In 2023, he was snubbed (very publicly) in favor of Justin Thomas and Sam Burns.

And then as a captain last month, Bradley’s team fell apart the first two days only to mount an improbable comeback on the final day. It still wasn’t enough as the Europeans held on for a narrow 15-13 triumph on American soil.

We knew the result would be hard for everyone in red, white and blue to stomach, but maybe we didn’t realize just how crushed Bradley would be in the aftermath of Bethpage.

Bradley says he’ll never get over the loss

Talking to media for the first time since his post-match press conference at the Ryder Cup, Bradley was brutally honest about what the loss means to him.

“You win, it’s glory for a lifetime. You lose, it’s ‘I’m going to have to sit with this for the rest of my life.’ There’s no part of me that thinks I’ll ever get over this.”

It’s fair to say Bradley made some crucial mistakes as captain. He previously admitted that his course setup plans of cutting the rough down and making the course softer were misguided. And a couple of his pairings decisions—like sending out Collin Morikawa and Harris English together twice despite their partnership being an analytics bottom dweller—were lampooned by many.

At the end of the day, however, it’s about the players. Europe outplayed the Americans.

It’s sad to see Bradley struggle so much mentally with the loss.

“Since the Ryder Cup to now has been one of the toughest times in my life. You put so much into something that I think, even if you win, they call it the ‘Ryder Cup hangover’ where you’re just mentally and physically gone. You put so much into it and you have all this planning, and the first two days went as poorly as we could have ever thought and then we had that amazing rally on Sunday.

“This effing event has been so brutal to me. I don’t know if I want to play. No, I do,” Bradley said as he corrected himself. “It’s such a weird thing to love something so much that just doesn’t give you anything.”

Woof. Those are hard words to hear.

Should Bradley have picked himself?

If there is any small silver lining, it’s that Bradley’s decision to not play in the event might have ended up being the right one.

We debated his inclusion as a player and even argued for it. Bradley was likely among the top 12 American players and could have helped the team.

However, being the captain and a player might be a bridge too far for anyone to take on nowadays.

“By the second or third day I was like, ‘It’s a good thing I’m not playing,’ because I was so physically exhausted … Good thing I didn’t do it because it would have been bad. I just didn’t think I could do both jobs.”

Justin Rose (45) was the only player on either team older than Bradley (39). It’s hard enough to play in the Ryder Cup at that age, let alone fulfill the captain’s many duties and play.

Hearing Bradley talk now, the golf world (including us) probably underestimated how hard it is to do both jobs.

At least Bradley can sleep easy on that point—he would not have helped his team by being a playing captain.

Bradley doesn’t deserve all the blame

While it’s fair to assign some blame to Bradley, I don’t think he’s the sole reason the Americans lost.

First of all, Europe played outstanding the first two days. It was some of the best team golf we’ve ever seen, regardless of how easy Bethpage was playing.

Secondly, this was not a particularly deep American team. There were four rookies and only Cameron Young stepped up out of that group. Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa were not in a great place.

They didn’t have the horses like the 2021 U.S. team had.

Even world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler went 1-4, which is inexcusable.

But I think the most blame has to go to the PGA of America which continues to falter when it comes to Ryder Cup planning. They clearly care more about making money off the Ryder Cup than actually winning the event.

After Tom Watson was a nightmarish one-off captain in 2014, the Americans went to a more European system of developing captains over time.

Then they abandoned that strategy by throwing Bradley into the fire despite the fact he had never even been a vice-captain before. They also chose someone who was still able to make the team as a player, which proved to be a distraction.

More than that, just about every decision the PGA of America makes is geared towards revenue. Even the choosing of Bethpage as a Ryder Cup venue—and then jacking up daily ticket prices to $750—ended up being embarrassing.

They need to make some changes to improve their chances of winning the match again.

How much blame should Bradley take? How do you feel about his Ryder Cup captaincy?

Let me know below in the comments.

Top Photo Caption: Bradley is still coming to terms with the Ryder Cup loss. (GETTY IMAGES/Jared C. Tilton)

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