European Ryder Cup legend Sam Torrance believes it isn’t possible to be a playing captain at the Ryder Cup.
Today is decision day for the US captain Keegan Bradley as we gear towards the strong likelihood that he’ll pick himself in his own 12-man team to face Europe at the end of September.
He will announce his six captain’s picks later this afternoon on August 27, and he is currently placed 11th in the US Ryder Cup points list and 11th in the world golf rankings.
Having once said he wouldn’t pick himself, the expectation is that he’ll go back on his word. Torrance, who played for Europe eight times and captained them to victory in 2002, believes Bradley is good enough to represent America inside the ropes at Bethpage next month, but shouldn’t juggle captaincy duties with it.
Sam Torrance: Keegan Bradley shouldn’t be a playing captain
“There’s not six better Americans than him! But he’s accepted a role that’s very prestigious and very important, to be captain. And to be a playing captain? I don’t see it as possible,” he said to NCG.
“I’ve heard different rumours, that he may take a spot, he may get himself in, and that Jim Furyk (one of Bradley’s vice captains) may be handed the captaincy while he plays. It’s extremely difficult for someone to play and be captain. There’s too much going on.
“Having the draws in for the afternoon, and he might be playing. He might be on the 14th hole. Who’s playing this afternoon? You just can’t work it like that.
“So I don’t know how they’re going to solve it. I honestly think he should be on the team. He’s played fantastic golf, but I don’t think he should be playing captain.”
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There hasn’t been a playing captain at the Ryder Cup since Arnold Palmer in 1963 at East Lake (what was then called Atlanta Athletic Club). At last week’s Tour Championship on the PGA Tour at this very venue, player registration was held in ‘The Captain’s Room’ – somewhat of a shrine to when Palmer led America to a 23-9 victory over Great Britain.
The stars seem to be aligning for captain Bradley, who admitted that his mindset of not choosing himself had changed after winning the Travelers Championship back in June. If he picked himself, it would be his third Ryder Cup appearance and first since 2014. He would also exorcise the demons and disappointment of 2023 when US captain Zach Johnson brutally left him off the team. They lost 16.5-11.5 to Europe that time.
“Arnold Palmer was the last one to do it, but you’ve got to remember, they were comfortably beating us in those days. It was just: turn up and beat us. Now, it’s very competitive,” Torrance added.
“We’ve won more in the last 20 years than they have, and they don’t like that. They want to win it. So they want the best team out there, and Keegan Bradley is one of the best players.
“He should be out there playing and let Jim Furyk or whoever they want to pick be captain.
“Keegan can still be involved in the team meetings at night, give his opinions and his help. But the actual day-to-day stuff, it’s not an easy job to be doing both.”
Torrance won three Ryder Cups as a player, including in 1985 when he holed the winning putt at the Belfry and in 1987 when Europe won away from home at Muirfield Village. He was part of a losing team in the famous War on the Shore in 1991, but tasted more away success at Oakland Hills in 1995.
Europe are looking to win in America for the first time since 2012. The Scotsman speaks from vast Ryder Cup experience and revealed that he found captaining the side 23 years ago far easier than competing as one of the 12 Europeans.
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“Being a captain was a piece of cake compared to being a player. You don’t have to play when you’re a captain, you just lead your players out there. But I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of being a captain,” he added.
“Mine was just a wee bit different because of the atrocities in New York, it was cancelled for a year. So I just wanted to look after each player personally. There were no big roaring speeches in the team rooms, nothing like that.
“The vice-captains are humongously important. They do a fabulous job. They’ve now got five vice-captains, which is the perfect number, because you’ve got four matches on the course for three of the four sessions. So you’ve got one vice-captain with each match and one vice-captain to look after the four players who aren’t playing in that session.
“You’ve got every corner covered, and the captain’s able to roam around the course and be where he wants to be. But he gets all his information from his five vice-captains, which is huge.”
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