SUTTON, Mass. — Keegan Bradley knew the dangers when he accepted the Ryder Cup captaincy.
“In the event you win, it is a lifetime honor. In the event you lose, it is ‘I will need to stay with this for the remainder of my life,'” Bradley mentioned Monday in his first public feedback since leaving Bethpage Black final month. “A part of me does not suppose I am going to ever get by way of this.”
Bradley, a two-time Ryder Cup participant, was named captain of the U.S. staff final yr and led a loaded squad to tackle Europe on New York’s Lengthy Island. Regardless of the house win giving him a bonus, he fell from 11.5 holes to 4.5 holes heading into the ultimate day. This was the largest Sunday morning deficit in trendy Ryder Cup historical past.
“You set in a lot effort, you made a lot planning, and the primary two days ended up being as dangerous as we thought they might be,” Bradley mentioned. Earlier than addressing the staff on Saturday evening, he wanted to step outdoors the tent and gather himself. “It was fairly emotional. It was unhappy, to be trustworthy.”
“In the event you win, it is the glory of a lifetime. In the event you lose, it means you will need to stay with this example for the remainder of your life. Someplace in my coronary heart I do not suppose I am going to ever have the ability to overcome this example. . . . This disappointment was very merciless to me. . . . It is a very unusual factor to like one thing a lot and don’t have anything in return.”
US Ryder Cup Captain Keegan Bradley
The American earned 8.5 factors in 12 singles matches on Sunday, closing in on the ultimate rating.
Bradley accepted accountability for a number of errors, together with setting as much as coincide with rain to make the notoriously troublesome course extra manageable. Others pointed to his mixture, and even his determination to take away himself from the staff.
“It has been one of many hardest occasions of my life for the reason that Ryder Cup till now,” Bradley mentioned at media day for the Vacationers Championship, the place he’s the defending champion.
“It is actually enjoyable to play in another recreation. You by no means know if you are going to get an opportunity,” Bradley mentioned. At 39 years previous, Bradley would have been older than everybody however Justin Rose on each groups this yr.
“This soccer factor has been so merciless to me. I do not know if I need to play. No, I need to play,” Bradley shortly corrected. “It is a very unusual factor to like one thing a lot that it does not offer you something.”
Bradley mentioned he’s nonetheless making an attempt to get out of the “Ryder Cup fog” and get again to being simply one of many high gamers on the PGA Tour. After being named captain, he went on to win the 2024 BMW Championship, giving him probably the most particular person wins in that span of any American aside from Scottie Scheffler along with his win at Hartford this previous June.
One other captain may need chosen him for the U.S. staff.
Bradley mentioned there have been moments when he wished he had develop into the primary captain to play within the Ryder Cup since Arnold Palmer in 1963, however he is aware of he made the precise determination.
“I hope and pray that I’ve the chance to play there perpetually,” Bradley mentioned. “My first apply day, I used to be on the tee and I noticed all of the gamers strolling down the golf green en masse and I mentioned, ‘I want I had performed. That is all that issues. I am lacking out.’
“By the second or third day, I used to be like, ‘I want I did not play,’ as a result of bodily I used to be so drained. … I am glad I did not play, as a result of it could have been dangerous,” Bradley mentioned. “I by no means thought I would have the ability to do each jobs.”
Nonetheless, spending the previous yr as a Ryder Cup captain has given Bradley expertise that few others get. Earlier than the gamers knew whether or not they would make the staff, he felt the love from American followers at tour stops throughout the nation.
“I wasn’t anticipating the help,” Bradley mentioned. “Within the historical past of the sport, going again to Bobby Jones, Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, I do not know if any of them went by way of what I went by way of this yr.
“I used to be capable of expertise one thing on the earth of golf that I do not suppose anybody has ever skilled earlier than. I used to be capable of compete at a really excessive degree and win tournaments and compete in tournaments whereas additionally being a Ryder Cup captain. And it was simply unimaginable.”
