CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Keegan Bradley made it clear again that the divide between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf is not going to impact how he picks his U.S. Ryder Cup team later this year.
The captain, who was surprisingly appointed to the role last July, had a dinner gathering of potential team members in Philadelphia last week prior to the Truist Championship and both Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka were invited.
Koepka was the only LIV Golf player who was part of the 2023 team that lost to Europe in Rome. DeChambeau was not chosen although he played in two previous Ryder Cups.
“Yeah, we invited Brooks and Bryson, and they were in there on points and they played on previous teams,” Bradley said Tuesday at Quail Hollow Club, site of the PGA Championship. “It was great to have them there. It was exciting ... this Ryder Cup and what comes with this, no one cares about what's going on inside PGA Tour-LIV. We’re trying to put the best team together.
“It could mean there's one LIV guy, two LIV guys, it doesn’t matter. We’ll see how this year shakes out. It was really great to have them together with all the guys. It’s been a while since we’ve been able to do that.”
DeChambeau, who won the U.S. Open last year and tied for fifth last month at the Masters, is fifth in the U.S. team standings behind Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas and Collin Morikawa. The top six players through the PGA Tour’s BMW Championship in August will automatically make the team with Bradley then able to choose six more players.
Due to weather issues in Dallas last week, DeChambeau was unable to depart and make the dinner but participated via Zoom and said he conferred afterward with Bradley.
“Yeah, it was awesome. It’s an incredible honor,” DeChambeau said. “Unfortunately we had massive storms that morning that delayed me 3 ½ hours, and I couldn’t make it to the dinner. But I saw it on Zoom and also talked to the captain about it, and I was step in step with him. We had a great conversation after.
“Look, I’ve got to keep playing good golf and I’ve got to hopefully—hopefully I can make it on points alone. That’s the goal. From everything I heard, it was pretty inspirational, and I know the captain is going to be a great leader for the team, whoever he chooses and whoever makes the team. He’s going to do a great job at Bethpage.”
Koepka is 91st in points and can only earn them at the PGA, U.S. Open and British Open. Patrick Reed, who finished third at the Masters and is 25th in points, was not invited to the meeting last week.
Two years ago, Koepka tied for second at the Masters and then won the PGA Championship and only fell out of the top six late in the process. He was an obvious choice for captain Zach Johnson, who at times during the year expressed doubts about the ability to judge LIV Golf players.
U.S. players earn points based on money earnings with a high value played on points at the major championships.
“Listen, we’ve got—these guys are playing in all four of the majors, so we’ll have that,” Bradley said. “These guys, a lot of them are up in these leaderboards every major.
“We’ll see how the year shapes out. The data is a little less at LIV. We don’t have quite the same stats that we have out here, but we have some. We know winning and contending on any tour at any level is difficult. I don’t care where you play. I played the mini-tours. Winning there was difficult. Winning on LIV is difficult. You can see guys—winning a LIV event is a big deal.”
Bradley, who won the 2011 PGA Championship and earned his way into this year’s signature events by qualifying for the BMW Championship—which he won—was a late choice for captain by the PGA of America after Tiger Woods declined the job.
A two-time participant in the Ryder Cup, Bradley secured the winning point for the Americans last year at the Presidents Cup.
“Really one of my favorite things has been getting to know the guys better,” he said. “I’ve known them all through the years of playing, but I’ve really gotten to know most of them much more.
“It’s been really one of the highlights of my career. I don’t know if this didn't happen that I would have gotten to know these guys as well. I’m just trying to get to know these guys exactly how they want to have the Ryder Cup, exactly how they like to be treated, how they like to be spoken to in the heat of the moment, and really just having them feel comfortable with me and the other vice captains, which isn’t that difficult considering we all know each other. I’ve really enjoyed the process of really getting to know the guys a little better.”
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Keegan Bradley’s Dinner for Prospective Ryder Cup Members Included LIV Golf Stars.