Captain Bradley Wishes for a Ski Cap in Florida
By: Gary Van Sickle
ORLANDO, Fla.—Thursday was just another cold, blustery, chill-factor kind of New England spring morning.
Except for one big thing–this is Central Florida, not Bangor, Maine. I’d like to have a word with the Greater Orlando Chamber of Commerce about this. In fact, I’m this close to demanding a refund.
Given the I-can’t-believe-I-left-my-ski-hat-back-in-Pittsburgh weather, it was no wonder native New Englander Keegan Bradley was the early leader of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
The cold wind gusts would’ve made the Bay Hill Golf Club play U.S. Open tough even if it was a sizzling hot day. The winds backed off in the late afternoon, however, which allowed for better scoring as Shane Lowry joined Bradley in second place at 3-under-par 69, two strokes behind Wyndham Clark, a late starter who took advantage of suddenly calmer conditions to birdie two of the last three holes for 67.
But with morning temperatures around 50 degrees, it was a bad day to have an early tee time. It was, however, a good day to play your rear end off. Which was pretty much the story of defending champion Scottie Scheffler and Collin Morikawa, at -1, and Bradley, whose round four birdies and one bogey.
“I played really, really great,” said Bradley, who lived in Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts while growing up. “Anything under par any day around this place is good but on a day like today, it’s one of the better rounds I’ve played all year. Geez, some days you get on the course and the shots just keep going right where you’re looking. Today was one of those days.”
What was difficult Thursday? “Everything,” Bradley said.
When you wake up early, get out and hit balls on the range and they’re going sideways in the gusting winds, Bradley added, you think about having to play in that for the next four hours. Survival was a goal for all the early starters. Max Homa and Cameron Young, for instance, didn’t break 80 (81 and 82, respectively).
Bradley didn’t just survive, he thrived. No single golf round means that much but Bradley’s timing could hardly be better. He is famously the surprising pick to captain the U.S. Ryder Cup team in September, this after being dubiously left off the 2023 team and criticizing those responsible for being in a clique he wasn’t part of. He was not wrong, either.
“The Ryder Cup kinda starts this week,” Bradley said after his round. He meant that the API, a limited-field Signature Event that carries an outsized purse and extra qualifying points, kicks off a run of big events over the next three months: The Players Championship next week; the Masters and RBC Heritage Classic (a Signature Event) in April; the Truist Championship (Signature Event) and PGA Championship in May; and the Memorial Tournament (Signature Event), U.S. Open and Travelers Championship (Signature Event) in June. After that gigantic stretch, the American Ryder Cup lineup will likely have taken definitive shape.
That’s interesting, sure. What makes it extremely intriguing is that Bradley has an outside chance—honestly, I’d rate it better than that—at earning a spot on the team and becoming the first playing captain since Casey Stengel… err, Old Tom Morris… sorry, Arnold Palmer, 1963.
Bradley, 38, seems to be playing some of the best golf of his career the last few years. A seven-time PGA Tour winner, he scored a win in each of the last three seasons—2022 Zozo Championship, 2023 Travelers Championship and 2024 BMW Championship. It’s easy to forget he won a major championship, the PGA, 14 years ago at Oak Hill.
The question is going to follow Bradley around all year like an annoying shadow: Will you pick yourself for the Ryder Cup team?
“I hope it’s not a tough decision,” he said. “I hope I’m either on the team or it’s not a decision. If I am in the top six, I’ll play. If not, I owe it to the guys to be their captain, although I have some great vice captains who could help that.”
Bradley is not exactly one of the favorites to make the team on points at the moment. In NCAA Basketball Tournament terms, he’s still the equivalent of a Cinderella team like George Mason, Florida Gulf Coast or Loyola/The University of Sister Jean. Bradley ranks 29th on the PGA of America points list, sandwiched between Andrew Novak, No. 28, and Brian Campbell, No. 30, the surprise winner of last week’s Cognizant Classic.
Bradley would certainly need a few good finishes in majors or Signature Events, or at least one win along the way. It is way too early to count him out. Or anyone else, for that matter. Two good weeks, starting now, can be life-changing (or Cup-changing, pretty much the same thing) for any PGA Tour player.
“When I’m outside the ropes, I’m working on the Ryder Cup every second,” Bradley said. “I have some stuff to do this afternoon in my room, and some things that I’m working on. One of the nice things is, when I get inside the ropes and I have a scorecard in my pocket, I’m a player. When I’m done practicing, my duty as a captain starts and I look forward to that.”
Another annoying shadow likely to keep following Bradley is the Netflix series, “Full Swing.” In the new season, a clip was aired of Bradley talking to the Presidents Cup team after the U.S. won. Bradley was a player on that squad.
“I’m gonna get criticized as the captain next year, they’re gonna underestimate me. They’re gonna doubt me. I’ve been doubted my whole f—ing life. That’s when I do my best work. We’re gonna go to Bethpage to kick their f—ing a–!”
A European golf writer brought it up Thursday after Bradley’s round. Bradley admitted that he was surprised the clip aired because he thought he was in the safety of the locker room. Whether he forgot the Netflix cameras were there or he forgot they would use anything juicy is a moot point. It aired.
“I mean no disrespect, I was speaking to our guys,” Bradley said. “I had just won the Presidents Cup that I hadn’t played in ten years, it was an exciting moment for me. But, you know, in the world we live in, I’ve got to be more aware that there’s always somebody recording.”
He was then asked if his comments will provide extra motivation for the Europeans this fall at Bethpage Black, Bradley said the Europeans don’t need any more motivation to win because the Ryder Cup means so much to them. They’re already highly motivated.
“I think my enthusiasm towards the Ryder Cup showed there,” he said. “That was meant for our team. I’m a pretty excited person, that’s who I am. But again, I have to know that in this day and age, especially with cell phones, everything’s being recorded.”
There was no blowback recently when the Netflix comments came out, only diplomacy from the European Ryder Cup team.
“Those things happen all the time,” former Ryder Cup player Francesco Molinari told Golf Channel. “I can understand why Keegan did it. We love to win. They love to win. What Keegan said was not out of bounds.”
What Bradley said about this week’s API Invitational was definitely in bounds. Yes, it should be considered Step One on the road to making this year’s Ryder Cup team. For Bradley, or whoever wins it other than Scottie Scheffler (we can agree to write his name on the team roster in ink, can’t we?), it could be a very big first step.
Gary Van Sickle has covered golf since 1980, following the tours to 125 men’s major championships, 14 Ryder Cups and one sweet roundtrip flight on the late Concorde. His work appeared, in order, in The Milwaukee Journal, Golf World magazine, Sports Illustrated and Golf.com. He is a former president of the Golf Writers Association of America. His email gvansick at aol dot com.
