With Keegan Bradley seemingly still pondering whether to be a rare playing captain at the Ryder Cup – two former European skippers believe it would be a big mistake.
Bradley missed out on automatically qualifying for his own Team USA squad at Bethpage Black, but after a resurgent season most people feel he’s played well enough to make the final 12.
It’s a huge dilemma, as the role has expanded exponentially since Arnold Palmer was the last player-captain back in 1963, and the likes of Rory McIlroy believe the role can’t be done at a modern Ryder Cup.
Victorious 2002 European Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance has a firm stance on Bradley’s selection decision – and believes he simply cannot perform both roles at Bethpage.
“It would be the worst decision a captain has ever made if he was a playing captain,” Torrance told the Sky Sports Golf podcast. “I don’t believe you can do it.
“There are things the captain has to do. He has to put the pairings in Friday and Saturday and he’s the only player in the American team that can talk to his team.”
And Torrance believes that after Bradley’s form this year “he should play” and in that case the “proper” thing to do would be to turn the captaincy over to one of his assistants – namely Jim Furyk.
“It’s a very difficult scenario. The proper thing to do is play and give the right of captaincy to Furyk or someone else.”
To play or to captain?
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Two-time Ryder Cup winner David Howell goes against the grain slightly, as while he also feels Bradley can’t do both roles, he believes he should not play and perform the honor of being captain on its own.
“If I, as Keegan Bradley, had a guarantee that if he gives up the captaincy he’ll get it again in the future then, sure, go ahead and play,” Howell told Golf Monthly.
“I’m not so sure they’re that likely to do that. In which case, this might be his only chance of captaincy.”
“From a legacy perspective, I think I certainly would much rather be captain than to play in another Ryder Cup because I think the experience is… clearly, it’s wholly different. It’s a much rarer thing to captain at the Ryder Cup rather than to play in it, and he’s already experienced that twice.”
Sir Nick Faldo agrees with Torrance though, in that Bradley should relinquish the captaincy and…
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