With a 63 on his card on Saturday (-7), Keegan Bradley posted the lowest round of the day and entered the fight to win the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup 2025. With 197 strokes (-13), the American Ryder Cup captain is three strokes behind Patrick Cantlay and Tommy Fleetwood in the standings, while Russell Henley is one stroke behind.
On Wednesday, Bradley will announce the names of his six chosen players to complete Team USA for the New York event and as of today he still does not know if he should be one of them and become a playing captain. And all this is happening at the legendary East Lake course, where the United States won the 1963 Ryder Cup with Arnold Palmer serving both roles. On that occasion, ‘The King’ was among the top 10 in his country and was then named captain, being the last to ‘double up’ for the United States. At East Lake there is a room in honor of Palmer, called ‘The Captain’s Room’.
The decision of whether Bradley self-selects has become even more difficult as he has climbed the ranks in the Tour Championship standings. However, he is not sure if a victory this Sunday will make it easier. “I wish there was someone to ask,” he told the media after finishing his round. “I wish he was alive [Palmer] and I could call him. If I could just do one thing, I wish I could call Arnold and talk to him, because I think he would give me great advice.”
Bradley is now 39 years old, but his ‘Ryder spirit’ means he is once again giving his best to be able to make the team, with the caveat that this year it is up to him to captain the players who will be at Bethpage Black. He always said he wanted to be the best leader possible and this might not be compatible with playing, but when this option is so close… In any case, Keegan recently got a concession from his European counterpart Luke Donald. He agreed to include in the captain’s contract a clause allowing Bradley to appoint one of his vice-captains as acting captain during the sessions in which he acted as a player. In theory, only captains can advise competitors during a match.
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