Golf legend and former European Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance has warned Keegan Bradley taking on the dual role of player captaincy at next month’s Ryder Cup would be the “worst decision ever” in the history of the biennial contest.
Torrance, who made eight Ryder Cup appearances as a player before he captained Europe to a memorable victory at The Belfry in 2002, warned Bradley that competing as a player-captain at Bethpage next month would be a near-impossible task.
Bradley has been in good form this season and claimed his eighth PGA Tour title at the Travelers Championship in June, finishing 11th in the qualifying standings for Team USA.
The 39-year-old has hinted that he may hand himself a captain’s pick when he finalises his team for this year’s renewal, but Torrance has added his name to a long list of doubters who believe he should hand over the captaincy if he wants to play.
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Bradley insisted earlier this week that he “will do what is best for the US Ryder Cup team” but then added “as of now, I really don’t know what I’m going to do.”
The American will reveal his six captain’s picks on 27 August.
Torrance, speaking at The Belfry ahead of this week’s British Masters, believes the responsibilities involved with being a Ryder Cup captain these days make it too difficult to also compete in a playing capacity.
Speaking as a guest on the Sky Sports Golf Podcast, Torrance said: “It would be the worst decision a captain has ever made if he was a playing captain. I don’t believe you can do it.
“There are things the captain has to do. He has to put the pairings in Friday and Saturday and he’s the only player in the American team that can talk to his team.
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“You can’t have someone else going onto the 16th saying ‘he hit a five-iron, he hit a six-iron’ – it’s only the captain that can do that. He also can’t glean enough information about his other teams that he’s had out that morning to get out in the afternoon.
“It’s a very difficult scenario. I mean, he should play, but the proper thing to do is play and give the right of captaincy to Furyk or someone else.”
Torrance’s opinion was echoed by another former Ryder Cup legend, Sir Nick Faldo, who suggested Bradley would be viewed as “selfish” if he played as captain and suffered the first home defeat in a Ryder Cup since the Miracle at Medinah in 2012.
“If he plays, and Europe win, the fans would call him selfish and the media will say he lost because he hadn’t done his duties,” Faldo told the podcast. “Then you live in regret for the rest of your life.
“It’s a shame. To be honest, the team is tough to get into and he should play. He should relinquish his captaincy and play, because when are you going to get another chance for him?
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“He loves to play and – as a player – you want to play.”
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