Keegan Bradley believes in being prepared, as he says he has “90 percent” of his pairings already figured out for the upcoming Ryder Cup.
Bradley gathered 10 of his team to play at the Procore Championship in what he sees as a crucial warm-up event to work on his players getting comfortable with each other.
And with all 10 players being grouped together in the opening two rounds in Napa, Bradley may have given us some clues about what he’s thinking on possible Ryder Cup pairings.
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It would make sense given Bradley says that he’s all-but got his pairings sorted for Bethpage Black – especially his potential foursomes duos.
“We’re 90 percent I’d say,” Bradley answered when asked how his line-up was coming along for the Ryder Cup.
“One of our goals was to have the guys prepared, ready to know who they’re playing with.
“Especially in alternate shot, I think that’s more important. I think best ball you can have a little more leeway there, but we’re pretty set here with what we’re going to do.”
Foursomes will start the first two days of the Ryder Cup and has been crucial in recent tournaments – with the alternate shot format always the hardest one to play.
“I think foursomes is obviously the tougher format to pair because there’s so many more factors,” said Bradley. “There’s the golf ball. You really want to match up the personalities with foursomes because it is a way tougher format.
“I think when you’re on the road, it’s much more comforting to have a best ball partner. So when you’re on the road and you’re standing on that first tee by yourself in that alternate shot’s much tougher so I think that would be the reason.
“It’s also easier to play better at home seems like over the last 30 years. But foursomes is – we have some history in some of the pairings.”
What could Bradley’s foursomes pairings be?
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Player
Foursomes record
Partners
Thomas
2-3
Spieth
Schauffele
2-2
Cantlay
Cantlay
2-2
Schauffele
Morikawa
2-1
Fowler, D. Johnson
Scheffler
0-2
Burns, Koepka
DeChambeau
0-2
Mickelson, Woods
Burns
0-1
Scheffler
He’s a stat that will worry Bradley – he only has four players on his team that have ever won a Ryder Cup point in foursomes and only one with a winning record – that being Collin Morikawa.
Bradley has four rookies in his side and two further players with just one appearance so has limited foursomes form to go on.
Fourballs can usually take care of themselves with players using their own ball as it’s much easier to select pairings with chemistry and type of game not as crucial.
So the focus will be on the foursomes, with Bradley having just two pairs that have played before – with a no-brainer duo of Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele nailed on to resume their partnership.
The good friends have only ever played foursomes with each other, winning both matches at Whistling Straits and losing both in Rome to now sit on a 2-2 record.
Scottie Scheffler played with Sam Burns in Rome but they lost, so the World No.1 holds a winless 0-2 foursomes record now in his two Ryder Cups.
Bryson DeChambeau is also 0-2 in foursomes while Justin Thomas is the third player to have won a foursomes match with his 2-3 record – but he’ll need a new partner as he played all five of those alongside Jordan Spieth.
Procore tee times hint at Ryder Cup pairings?
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Groups at the Procore Championship
Scottie Scheffler, Russell Henley, JJ SpaunCollin Morikawa, Harris EnglishPatrick Cantlay, Sam BurnsJustin Thomas, Ben Griffin, Cameron Young
The groups at the Procore Championship, organized by Bradley, could also give a clue to new partnerships for Bethpage Black.
Burns is an obvious option to play with Scheffler, but Russell Henley played in both foursomes sessions with the World No.1 at last year’s Presidents Cup, while rookie JJ Spaun would seem to have the game to compliment him.
Spaun’s spoken of getting comfortable playing alongside Scheffler in Napa, so being paired with him seems like no accident.
Thomas is the most experienced player in the team and being paired with rookies Ben Griffin and Cameron Young makes sense as he could assume the role of leading the newbies into foursomes battle.
Cantlay and Burns also played together at the Presidents Cup and could be an alternative to Cantlay/Schauffele, while Burns teamed up with Morikawa at the last Ryder Cup in fourballs but they aren’t grouped together in Napa.
So maybe Bradley has identified Morikawa and Harris English as two players with games to suit a foursomes pairing.
It doesn’t necessarily mean these players will be paired together at Bethpage, but they’re together at Napa for a reason.
