The weeks main as much as the 2023 Ryder Cup sparked loads of controversy as Staff USA captain Zach Johnson chosen Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, and Rickie Fowler as a substitute of Keegan Bradley, main the previous to marvel how that may very well be.
However lower than a yr after being seemed over for Rome, Bradley will captain subsequent yr’s Ryder Cup staff at Bethpage Black in New York, a call that stunned all the golf world.
And but, Thomas, who has a exceptional report in match play towards the Europeans, dropped a fact bomb about Bradley’s captaincy after his first spherical of the Genesis Scottish Open, the place he holds an early one-stroke lead.
“I clearly love the choose, and I believe it’s a change of course for the perfect,” Thomas mentioned.
“I simply assume it’s opening up a complete new alternative, and I believe no captain goes to know the gamers and their video games than anyone who’s enjoying with us on the highest stage each single week.”
When the Ryder Cup kicks off subsequent September, Bradley would be the youngest captain since Arnold Palmer served as a player-captain at East Lake in 1963. It’s a stark departure from the place the PGA of America has gone lately, choosing older main champions of their mid-to-upper 40s to guide Staff USA. However the Europeans have dominated the People since 2000, successful eight of 12 Ryder Cups, two of which have come on U.S. soil.
One thing wanted to alter, so the powers that be chosen Bradley, who admitted to “enthusiastic about the Ryder Cup each second he’s awake” final yr, as the person in cost.
“My factor is I need to choose the perfect captain,” Thomas added, per Golf.com’s Sean Zak.
“I don’t need it to really feel prefer it wants to suit a sure resume. It doesn’t want to suit this proper mildew. No matter it’s. It’s like, look, who’s our greatest captain proper now? It doesn’t matter what they’ve achieved—are the fellows going to be excited to play for him? Is he going to mesh with everyone? That’s all that issues.”
Based mostly on everybody’s reactions to this point, from Phil Mickelson to Bryson DeChambeau to Tiger Woods and now to Thomas, America’s powerbrokers have accredited the choice to appoint Bradley as captain. Solely time will inform if the transfer will repay, as Rory McIlroy even mentioned in Scotland, however Staff USA wanted a spark, and no person has extra ardour, extra fireplace, and extra need for the Ryder Cup than Bradley himself.
Jack Milko is a golf employees author for SB Nation’s Enjoying By. Make sure to try @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You may comply with him on Twitter @jack_milko as effectively.
