Keegan Bradley yearns to be on the US Ryder Cup team, but could determination lead to his downfall?
The 37-year-old thinks about the Ryder Cup “every second he’s awake” but said he mustn’t let this jeopardise making his third appearance at the event.
Bradley would love nothing more than to fill the winless Ryder Cup void in his CV with an American side full of young talent.
The former PGA champion will be at the forefront of captain Zach Johnson’s thoughts for a pick with two wins this year, if he isn’t able to secure an automatic spot for Rome.
“I think about the Ryder Cup every second I’m awake basically,” he said at the BMW Championship. “My biggest thing right now is trying not to think about it while I’m playing because it’s important to me.
“I could bring some experience to the team. I would personally love to just be on a team with this younger group. All the teams that I’ve been on, they’re all gone. They’re all Senior Tour or done playing.
“I find that this younger core of guys to be really a cool group because they seem to really pull for each other, and it would be really fun to be a part of that.
“To be on a Ryder Cup team where my 2012 team they’re all gone, and this would be a totally different experience, and every match I’ve ever played, whether it’s Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup, I’ve played with Phil, so it would be interesting to have another partner, see what that’s like, and I’d love to play with Zach.”
Also: 2023 Ryder Cup standings
Bradley fell at this week’s hurdle during last year’s FedEx Cup Playoffs, but planned to use the disappointment to fuel an upturn in form in 2023.
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He went on to win the ZOZO Championship back in October, came second at the Farmers Insurance Open and won the Travelers Championship at the end of June.
His FedEx Cup ranking of 11th keeps him on track to make the Tour Championship for the first time since 2018, and possibly his first Ryder Cup start since 2014.
Lucas Glover’s recent brilliance epitomises the depth in quality of the US ranks, but Bradley is full of pride at his improvement 12 months on from a week that left a sour taste.
“I left this tournament last year on a mission really. I was pissed. Sometimes that’s good. It was the best thing to happen to me,” he added in Illinois.
“I decided at this tournament around today, around Wednesday, I think, I knew there were some changes coming to the tour and to the elevated events and all this stuff was coming, and I thought to myself, I’ve got to give this a really hard push.
“I made a lot of changes, and fast forward a year, and I’m very proud of where I’ve gotten. But I got such a big step ahead of me with this Ryder Cup. I would really like to be on a winning Ryder Cup team someday.
“I’m not there at the end yet because I did leave here with a lot of questions about the rest of my career. I didn’t want to just coast into the end. I think I’ve got a good bunch of years left, and it was a nice wake-up call.”
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Read more: How will Zach Johnson handle this Ryder Cup dilemma?
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