Keegan Bradley hears all the noise.
After winning the Travelers Championship last week, there’s a strong possibilty he can be the U.S. team's first playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963.
And, with Bradley currently ninth on the Ryder Cup points list with the top six automatically qualifying, there’s been a lot of chatter whether or not the 38-year-old can take on that responsibility.
Teeing it up, though, helps him block everything out.
“So for me the only time I can escape the Ryder Cup thoughts are when I’m inside the ropes,” Bradley said Wednesday ahead of the Rocket Classic. “I’m able to escape the Ryder Cup a little bit when I get inside the ropes. When I leave those ropes, like when I go this afternoon, I have some Ryder Cup stuff I have to do.
“But I’ve been doing a pretty good job this year of when it’s time to tee it up in the tournament of being a player first. Then when I leave there, I have to be the captain. I think one of the things I’ve managed well this year is once I’m inside those ropes, I’m a player.”
Ryder Cup hopefuls, however, are being asked about the potential of Bradley playing on the U.S. squad.
“I mean look, right now he’s playing as one of the best Americans and one of the best golfers in the world winning a signature event,” Collin Morikawa said at Detroit Golf Club. “The consistency I think he’s brought this year, I’m sure there’s already contingencies to be put in place because it’s not like it wasn’t a possibility that that could happen. That’s on him.”
After initially saying he wouldn’t use a captain’s pick on himself later this year, Bradley changed his tune after winning the Travelers and moving to No. 7 in the world. Part of the reason he’s open to playing for the U.S. team is because of the vice captains he selected.
Wednesday at LIV Dallas, Patrick Reed, once known as "Captain America" for his performance in past Ryder Cups, was asked if Bradley should play at Bethpage Black in September, and Reed endorsed the idea.
“Honestly, for me, if I was in his shoes, if I felt like I was playing as the top 12, inside that top 12, then I’d play,” Reed said.
“The thing about being a captain, it’s about putting the best team forward no matter who it is, and whoever is in the best form is obviously one of those guys that I’d make sure is on the team. If he continues playing the way he’s playing and continues competing on Sundays and having a chance to win, I’m all for it.
“It’s all what he feels like is the best for the team, and if that means him playing is best for the team, that’s what you have amazing vice captains for is to take over that role if you’re out there having a chance to play and have a good chance for the U.S. to bring the cup home.”
Bradley is preparing for that possibility, but his focus is on winning his second event in a row in Detroit. Though, if that happens, it seems unlikely that he wouldn’t be one of the 12 Americans teeing it up at Bethpage.
“As we get closer to the Ryder Cup, things are amping up certainly for sure,” Bradley said, “but every day we’re working. We’re on the chat with the vice captains. Now the team is really starting to take shape and we know a handful of guys that are pretty close to a mathematical lock on the team. We start thinking about partners and formats. Things are definitely amping up.”
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Keegan Bradley Tries to Quiet Ryder Cup Distractions Amid More Calls to Be Playing Captain.