Keegan Bradley, the U.S. Ryder Cup captain, joined Gary Williams earlier this week to talk about the possibility of being a playing captain, the feedback he is getting, the unprecedented modern day dual role, the state of his game and balancing responsibilities, playing with Michael Jordan, some of the best things about Boston and Boston sports and much more.
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In case you missed it, we were joined here on Five Clubs by the United States Rder Cup captain, Keegan Bradley. Here is my conversation with Keegan. What is life like in your house at 8:00 on a summer morning? Quiet, chaotic. It was It was crazy just a second ago. I was running upstairs. My My son actually is going to drive, drift, and putt now. His first ever like golf tournament, and I’m like dying of nerves for him. I’ I’ve never felt like this. So, I had to give him a little hug and a a pep talk on the way out. And my my youngest is like wanting to party. So, it’s a it’s a wild scene here right now. Uh that’s a good simulation for you because you’re going to feel those same things in a couple of months cuz all these guys on your team, you’re going to feel like they’re your sons, your brothers, and you’re going to be dying lousy for every shot of theirs. Keegan, I was just mentioned it was a year ago today uh that the PG of America announced that you were going to be the captain. What about that whole day that I know had to be very disorienting is the thing that you’ll remember forever. Well, I think I think what I’ll remember forever. So So they they announced it today. They had called me the Sunday night of Hartford. So I had been the captain on my own for for for a week. And it was it was a the craziest time of probably my career because it was such a shock to to everything that was going on. I had no idea that this was going to happen and I was sort of settling into the role and you know during that week I had spoken to some of the players and that was my biggest concern. I wanted to make sure that the players were okay with this and that felt comfortable with this and and wanted this. And when when I when I talked to the guys that I had this real sense of like calm and and like all right we can do this. And when I found out how excited they were, that’s when I I knew that this was going to be a great thing. You know, one of the things that you disclosed then that Seth Wah had said to you was that your number was called and that you needed to step up. The other thing which you internalized and then you shared recently, you mentioned the travelers, you win it again. You said that he also said he wanted you to be a plane captain. Why did you think it was important for you to internalize that, not share that at any point until now? Yeah, I I didn’t even think much of it when I when I said it. I I I wasn’t trying to keep that quiet. I just never said it for some reason. I probably shouldn’t have. I I I see it’s made a bit bit of some news. But, you know, I I think it was important for them to cuz part of it was was a little bit I was like, “Wait a second here. I’m I’m still trying to play. I’m still like I’m still in the what I think of the prime of my career. I’m not trying to, you know, normally this role is for someone who’s done playing, their family’s much older, and I think they wanted to get across to me that like, you know, they still wanted me to be a player. And that that was important to hear. Um, you know, my goal is always to make a RDER Cup team every year that they play our President’s Cup team. And so that there’s no difference here when I start this year is like I want to play on this team. And um, it’s just a very unique situation that I’m in. It is. It it is just that. And one of the other things, Keegan, that you said at the outset was that you were not going to pick yourself. And I totally got it by you saying that. There’s no reason for you to say, “Well, man, you know, there’s a chance I might pick myself.” You you can’t say that either. And I’ve always believed that that things change. Things have changed. You are not in the top six, but you are as as good as anybody in terms of you look at your team. Sheffller’s in a category by himself. So now it seems unlikely that you wouldn’t pick yourself. Is that fair? Yeah. I mean, so when I started this whole process, you know, I I was do I was on on my own here. Like I I didn’t have any of my vice captains. I didn’t I was just into this role. I had just learn like learned that I was captain. And then I had Web come on and it felt a little better. It felt like more manageable. Then I had Sneds come on and it was like, “Okay, now now this feels great. I got a team starting.” and then Kizner and then Jim and then and Jim’s been spectacular just because of his experience and what he brings and and then Gary Woodland and then now I have this team of five, you know, as before I was I was on my own and it just everything seems a lot more manageable. They all bring such a different perspective and different attitude towards this and I feel like they complement each other in a great way. You know, Keegan, I’m going to share with you my position on this and this is not you. This is my position whether it’s Europe, the United States, and I felt this for over a decade because you know because I know how much you love this. The enormity of the post that can you be the best at either if you choose to do both? Do what do you think about that viewpoint? Well, you you know that the the strange part about this whole thing is is like there’s no baseline for this. I can’t call somebody. I can’t call, you know, even even Arnold Palmer in 1962 or three. The RDER Cup has changed dramatically since then. So there’s no I I I can’t lean on anybody. So I can’t like call up a a player and and say, “Hey, what was this like?” I mean, I’ve I’ve spoken a ton with Tiger. Um you know, he did he was a player captain at the President’s Cup and you know, he’s been extremely helpful, extremely helpful through this whole process. And but you know what? We’re all learning this as we go. And you know, I’m in this unique position where they named me Ryder Cup captain at 39. If they had done this to Tiger or Phil or Jim or Stricker, like they would have had to go through this too. It’s just a it’s just a you know, they went a different direction and named me. So there’s no there’s no baseline here. There’s nothing we can lean back on. And um like I said, I got great vice captains. It could come a time in in two months when there’s going to be picks that I’m not going to be playing. like there’s a good chance of that. I I don’t this isn’t like a guaranteed thing. We’re still learning and um you know I hope every day that someone, you know, comes from that down way down the list and has a great British Open and a great playoffs and makes the team and kicks me out. One last thing on on this aspect of it. I I go back to you and your first experience, you and Phil, you guys are boat racing teams left and right and and you sat out the Saturday afternoon session, which will always confound me. Like when you’re you know this, when you’re on a heater, you stay on a heater. Like the idea of you conceding something or or doing something different because you are the captain and going, I can’t play another session. Why couldn’t you? Do you think that you’ll be able to be pragmatic about those things if you do choose to do both if you’re on a heater to not bench yourself because you’re the captain? Yeah. Well, we we have uh like I said with the vice captains like we we have we’re starting to make plans for everything and the I don’t care if I play I don’t care if I’m just the captain. I don’t care if I play five matches. I don’t care if I play one if I just play singles. I just want to win the RDER Cup. So, whatever that entails, and that goes that goes from me down to the the 12th guy on the on the on the team to the cart drivers to the physios to the vice captains, like we we just want to win. We’re we’re going to come up with a way a blueprint to figure this out. We’re going to have, you know, 10 different scenarios for each session of what could happen. And, you know, we’re going to figure that out as as we get closer. As of right now, you know, we’re we’re still trying to Well, we’ve talked about it and we’re going to be ready for whatever comes our way. Uh the fact that you thought to yourself, I’m not going to talk about any of this uh in terms of maybe I got to win a golf tournament and you won a golf tournament. What have you learned about yourself to know that you had those own expectations on yourself with all this noise and all these responsibilities that you performed? What is that what has that taught you about yourself? Well, I think everyone was really quick to say like, “Oh, this is going to make Keegan play poorly. He’s got too much on his plate.” But nobody nobody they don’t know me. Number one, and number Oh, like, oh, the RDER Cup captain in his when he’s, you know, playing his best golf is going to play horrible the year that he’s the captain. There there’s you can’t I I always found that funny because there isn’t a model that shows that. And what the interesting thing about this whole process has been, you know, when I’m this Rder Cup job is 247, but when I’m inside the ropes is the only time I can let that go and I can I cannot be the captain. And then when I leave the ropes, I got to go right back into being captain. I can’t worry about, oh, I I I’m hitting my driver, you know, bad or I I’m worried about this one shot on this hole. I got to be the captain. So, in a weird way, I feel like one has taken the the when I leave the course, I stop thinking about my golf game. And when I’m, you know, when I’m on the course, I’m I’m can let that rider cup thing go a little bit. it’s still there. But, you know, I’ve had this interesting way of going about this where I can, you know, let one of these jobs go a little bit and I think it’s helped both sides. Um, I had Andrew Novak on the show last week and he said something to me that I was really I was impressed by. Uh, he said that he started thinking about the Rder Cup and look his profile at the time. He was like he was a college player at Wford and when Beth Paige was announced it got to him like somehow someway if I’m ever an elite player in this game like I want to be on that team which gets me to this. I know you got you got data geeks you got your you know these guys who are you know they’re they’re giving you more information than is imaginable with quantitative information but heart and soul and guys who can respond to that environment. How much of that is going to be a factor among the guys that you choose yourself? 100%. And you know, I think in any sport and on any team, in any business, in anything in life, everybody knows who the best players are. Everybody knows in a business who the best salesman are. Everybody knows when when you’re a kid, when you go play, you know, two-hand touch football and you’re picking the team, you know who the best players are. in the in the in the players on the US side, you know, they know whether whatever the stats or the the you know, the analytics or the you know, we’re going to look at that, but we also know who who’s going to be able to handle this. And, you know, guys like Andrew Novak have shown throughout the year what a you a tough competitor he is. Um I love his mindset, his attitude. Um, and we’re gonna we know like we the players know and we got a really big stretch coming here like we got, you know, the British Open and then the playoffs which give which give out, you know, tons of points towards this this Ryder Cup. So, this is far from this team is far from set. There’s a lot that could happen. All right, let me get you out of here with five quick questions because it’s a big day for the Bradley’s. It’s drive, chip, and putt day. All right, here’s the first one. Um, who is your current favorite active Boston athlete? My favorite current Boston at Drake May. Easy. That’s an easy question. Yes. The the kid from Charlotte, North Carolina. All right. The last time you stayed up until midnight, people don’t realize you’re you’re the king of the Irish. Goodbye. I’ve seen you leave events and and you become a ghost like halfway out the room. Uh when was the last time you were up till midnight? Any sort of Boston sporting event. I I’m up, you know, if I if the Patriots I I’ve it’s, you know, selfishly I love that the Patriots aren’t in prime time anymore because like they they were always playing at prime time and I was having to stay up so late it’s horrible. So, um any sort of Boston event? Yeah, Sunday at 1 is not a bad thing until it becomes a thing that it’s like five years in a row then you know you stink and and you get over Sunday at one. All right. Your favorite gambling game with Jordan. Do you have a game that you guys play? Um, you know, I think I just love being around the guy. He’s such a great dude. Like, like I can’t tell you like what what a fun what I still have this love for golf. And like when I have a like a really fun game that I have the next day. Like I still can like lay in bed and like have trouble like going to sleep. I’m so excited. And like when I get to go have a day with Michael and we’re going playing 36 and I know we’re going to have a match and like I love that. I love being around like the guy. I love, you know, picking his brain. I like when he’s, you know, ribbon me. I just love every second of it. Yeah. And the kicks have evolved. I mean, you were wearing kind of like off the rack stuff. Now, your custom kicks are they’re strong. All right. Uh, the best Bostonbased movie. What’s your number one Bostonbased movie? That’s such an easy question. I don’t even know why you have to ask. It’s The Town. No, no, no, no question. Easy. Number one by a long way. Okay. The town is excellent. I bet. But you have depth. The departed Goodwill Hunting Gone Baby Gone. I can go back to the verdict with Paul Newman. I think that that it’s not close. I I appreciate what your opinion here in and the the departed is great. No, you really don’t. The Departed is great. The The Departed is like, you know, an all-time classic, but The Town is like that’s a real Boston movie. There’s the accents are better. Um, you know, I I the the the local like the things that they do locally are like you have to really know the city to to to know the North End and the the Boston Gravel. That That’s the best one. Okay, last thing. Um, the player on your RDER Cup kind of radar, you got a lot of guys who are in the mix who text you like just arbitrary stuff more than anybody else. Not like, “Hey, am I going to be on the team?” just but but always trying to be like in your mind who is it? Let me think. Well, uh let me think about that because they’re all doing it. They’re all they’re all excited like they’re like like they’re all like this this this is what this is what I just I just love about this group is like you know my Rder Cup teams were Tiger, Phil, Stricker, Furick. Like this is 100% turnover. So, like I I don’t I get I don’t know what it’s like to be on a RER Cup team with these guys. I know President’s Cup and I just the camaraderie that they have with one another, the the friendships that they have. Like they remind me of my buddies that I went to St. John’s with where they’re like they’re best friends, but they also can really ri each other to where I’m like, “Oh, that was a little serious.” and then they’re laughing and then like the thing that I really envy the most about them is they’re genuinely happy for one another. So like you know they like Jordan Spe wins a tournament and JT and Ricky are there on 18 or but they’re not like faking it like they’re really pumped for their friend. So like I know this is a horrible answer but they’re all texting. They’re all into it. They’re all like wondering what they can do to help the team and it’s really great. There are there are no bad answers as you know. They’re only bad questions. Um, thank you. I know your time is precious. Uh, you’re awfully kind to carve out some for me. It’s a drive, chip, and putt day for your family. Go get after it. Thank you.
