Keegan Bradley would be a shoo-in for the Ryder Cup except that he's the American captain

CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) — The question about playing in the Ryder Cup was inevitable. For the Americans who have spent time with Keegan Bradley over the last year, the answer he gave on the 18th green was as pure as the 6-foot putt he had just made to win the Travelers Championship. "Go USA!" was all Bradley said. "Of course he wants to play," Justin Thomas had said two days before the 39-year-old Bradley posted a 63-68 weekend to win. "I think his main priority is for the U.S. to win the Ryder Cup. In his heart, he does not care if he's playing or captaining as long as the U.S. wins. Obviously if he could choose, it would be winning as a captain and a player. "But everything has been so player-first with him," Thomas said. "If everybody wants him on the team, I think he'll be on it." There is no getting around it now. The idea of Bradley playing at Bethpage Black in New York for the Sept. 28-30 matches first came up a year ago when he took the job. A month later, he beat the best PGA Tour players at the BMW Championship. Even then, being a playing captain seemed like a long shot. But now, after a late rally to win the Travelers Championship — a signature event with another loaded field — Bradley has more PGA Tour individual titles than anyone but Scottie Scheffler over the last year. "Is that true?" Bradley said Sunday evening as his eyes widened, unclear if the surprise in his voice was more about his own achievement or concern about his potential Ryder Cup team. Forget the numbers and look at the game. Bradley has been one of the better American players the last three years and should have been picked for Marco Simone in 2023, when he finished at No. 11 in the standings. He played the opening two rounds at the Travelers Championship with Rory McIlroy. They looked like competitors, not a pairing of Europe's best and America's captain. "I've had the thought if it was anybody else but me as captain — before this week — I'd be strongly considered," Bradley said. "Now we're in an interesting spot. I'm going to have to think about this." McIlroy already was thinking along those lines. This was only the second time he had played with an active American captain — the other was Jim Furyk in 2017, who at age 47 was ranked No. 79 in the world. Bradley is the youngest Ryder Cup captain since 1963 and is No. 7 in the world. "If he doesn't finish in the top six and he doesn't pick himself, then you could say America aren't going with their very best," McIlroy said the day before Bradley won. "But at the same time, they're very deep and they have a lot of great players who can step in and fill the spots. "He's found himself in quite a peculiar situation." Bradley, whose world ranking is a career best, is No. 9 in the Ryder Cup standings. Since the U.S. revamped its system in 2008 to allow for at least four captain's picks, the No. 9 player has been left out four times — Cameron Young (2023), Bubba Watson (2016), Hunter Mahan (2012) and Anthony Kim (2010). All but Young was because of form or injury. There are two months to go until the leading six Americans qualify, and then six captain's picks are chosen a week later. That's still a lot of golf. "It's too early," said Scheffler, while also acknowledging time is running out. He figured most Americans would be playing six more times (including the Travelers) before the team is determined. "There's years where teams look pretty obvious. And then there's years where there's more decision-making that has to go on," Scheffler said. "I feel like at the beginning of the year, you're like, 'Who's going to be on the team?' And then eventually, toward the end of the year, most spots sort themselves out. That's what I think is going to happen." Bradley is playing the Rocket Mortgage Classic this week. Still to come is the British Open (with a bump in Ryder Cup points), and two $20 million purses in the PGA Tour postseason (Ryder Cup points are tied to money). Bradley has been pumping up the Americans throughout the year, with one message for them to bring that winning mentality to Bethpage Black. "I keep telling him, 'I think you should bring your clubs.' That's what I tell him in response," Xander Schauffele said. "He says he's playing the best golf of his career. We have some pretty obvious Americans that have been playing consistently well. But I feel like he's definitely in that six-to-eight echelon of guys who bring it every week. I think he's in a tough spot." Bradley is not giving up his role of captain — "I've put too much work into this," he said — and he still has one more assistant to appoint to join Jim Furyk, Brandt Snedeker and Kevin Kisner. That could be geared toward his decision to play. Is Tiger Woods available? He was a playing captain in the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne in 2019, the year Woods was the Masters champion. The Presidents Cup is far less intense than the Ryder Cup. The last playing captain at the Ryder Cup was Arnold Palmer in 1963 (which also felt like a one-sided exhibition at the time). What can't be overlooked is the obvious: If not for Bradley being captain, he's be an obvious choice. It would be a shame if Bradley missed out playing in two straight Ryder Cups — one because he wasn't picked, the other because he was picked (as captain). "He keeps talking about how other people are the heartbeat of the team," Schauffele said. "But I think he would be the heartbeat of the team if he played at Bethpage."