KEEGAN SHOULD NAME PHIL MICKELSON RYDER CUP CAPTAIN – EPISODE 147

Keegan Bradley is playing the best golf of his career. It is time he put the Ryder Cup team first and play. Not as a playing captain, but as a dedicated team member, focused solely on winning. The new captain? Phil Mickelson.

We give you our spin on why and how Phil Mickelson is the only choice to replace Keegan as captain of the 2025 US Ryder Cup team at Bethpage Black!

Plus: LIV Golf Dallas stakes are HIGH! A coveted spot in the field for The Open at Portrush is on the line. Will Sergio Garcia hang onto the exemption or will Lucas Herbert or another golfer steal the spot in Texas?

And, of course we make our picks for Maridoe Golf Club, this week’s home for LIV Golf. A home game for Bryson DeChambeau and Crushers GC.

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welcome to 54 Golf on this week’s episode we will be discussing Keegan Bradley’s run as RDER Cup captain/player and a live golfer who could potentially fill in as captain hint hint if Keegan decides to go that way liv Golf returns to Dallas not for the team championship this time we have an actual event at Marino Golf Club bryson Dshambo and the Crushers home course some pretty hefty stakes on the line especially for Sergio Garcia who of course wants to be in the open championship currently holds the last spot the last invite from Liv uh via the Open RNA exemption granted to Liv top five in the standings without already being accepted so they give him one spot away we’ll talk about if that’s enough [Music] and Bradley deserves to be on the RDER Cup team i don’t think there’s any doubt about that after his win at the Travelers this week comfort behind to leave Tommy Fleetwood winless still in his career keegan’s already said that he won’t select himself if he’s captain to be a player but I think American golf fans would disagree with him if he did not pick himself
can he be a captain and a player can he be a good enough captain and play at the same time
i think he’s better than some of the guys that are automatically qualified to play um and I you know he’s always played well in the uh in the RER Cup he’s got that attitude that we want in the RDER Cup and I think it would be great to have a player captain um in the Ryder Cup
can you tell me what’s involved in being like the captain captain like do you have to set matchups and stuff like that like you’re saying can he handle being a player captain as opposed to just being the captain how much extra goes involved to him being the overall captain that would maybe distract him from being a player captain like
Yeah tip typically like the captain will go out they’ll be out on the course and they’ll be watching the guys play so they’ll get a gauge as far as like how the guys are playing in the morning and start to prepare a plan of attack for like the afternoon sessions where they may do like uh a team you know uh alternate shot or some kind of team uh more like a twoman team competition the captains set those lineups and so uh typically like earlier in the day you’ll see the RDER Cup captains actually like trailing their guys getting a feel for their game like day of talking about like coaching type captain type stuff day and without with him being out on the course focused on his own game focused on his own game on the range beforehand where he’s got to pick even the singles matchups right like if he’s out on the range maybe he had a bad day day one and he’s trying to fix something can he really fix you know something in his swing and also set the best lineup for the team i That sounds like a lot that sounds
It sounds like way too much and for a guy that like Keegan Bradley that hasn’t as far as my knowledge won all that much it feels like too much
he’s been a good Rder Cup player
but he’s got assistant captains he he does have assistant captains but ultimately the the the decision falls in his lap as the captain of the team and so any lineup move any you know who’s going to sit out type of deal that comes from the captain like yeah of course the assistant captains can can weigh in and let him know but really you want your captain to be I think fully focused on doing the captain’s things because the Ryder Cup is hard enough if you’re captain as a captain being fully focused take some of that focus away and put it towards your playing i think you just make yourself a weaker captain and a weaker player and America is for sure the underdog heading into Beth Page with the way that the point system is set up against them or should I say players have been earning points that you wouldn’t typically have expected so you got like lesser names uh inexperienced probably a more inexperienced Ryder Cup team than we may have ever had my personal opinion and this is definitely Homer but whatever you need a guy who’s a leader with experience who doesn’t who isn’t playing to be the captain of the Rder Cup team and that guy is Phil Nichols you don’t want a weak player and a weak captain you you can’t have both you want to have And Keegan right now not saying he wouldn’t be a great captain i think he would be a great captain he’s fiery he’s he’s got the experience in the RDER Cup
oh yeah but he is so much more valuable to this team right now as a player way more valuable than he is as a captain you just
Yeah no that that all makes sense
i expected you guys to say we don’t need a different captain because these guys are professionals and they should be able to go out there and handle their own business i expect
I I
that was why I asked that question coming from someone who is my experience is way deeper into actual team sports as opposed to uh a singular sport you know a singular athletic sport that also happens to be sometimes a team sport like golf i I I don’t think you can do both not Not everybody can do both i think that’s a specific skill set that has to be worked on and honed right i I think you know you you can’t do all of that and for someone like Keegan who I I think can play really well I I he mentality other than playing in the Ryder Cups what you know or the President’s Cups what else is his team experience why not hand the reigns over to someone who actually does this for a living now because that’s what Phil does
that’s your best point that’s the best point for Phil too is that Phil already does this phil is already a leader amongst his peers he’s a leader for the league he’s a leader for the highf flyers obviously uh you know now he’s a leader over his production team like he’s just he’s used to being the head guy in the room anyway so I he fits perfectly i know that haters are going to be totally against this but who says it’s Keegan’s choice to make Phil a captain if that’s if that’s the case
well he is the captain isn’t he he can hand over that responsibility to somebody else if he wants to play I’m assuming right
i don’t think there’s a precedent for this i don’t think that there
Yeah I don’t think that there is a a captain in history who has turned down being captain i mean being captain of a Ryder Cup team is like it right it’s like especially definitely in Europe and certainly over the years for the United States like whether we’ve agreed with who the captain is or not like those guys have had a lot of power in the room for for the USA um so it’s it’s interesting uh it’s a really interesting question keegan’s also going to have to um if he if he decides to pick Phil like if he can replace himself with Phil like the backlash he’s going to get from the PJ side of of things he’s got to he’s got to think about that too you know what I mean
only if they only if they lose
there’s that too i mean if you make the move and you win then nobody cares as long as you didn’t cheat like Rory right as long as you win and don’t cheat like Rory you You Nobody cares like you made a move it worked usa won yeah right so I mean and he has to win too Jerome like Keegan can’t go out there and stink and we and the United States wins and then be like “See I told you I made the right move.” Well you you really did nothing you you sucked
and you didn’t help us win we won we won despite you it kind of hurt kind of hurts him if he goes out there and stinks
and the captain ends up taking the team you know to uh to an upset win that would be pretty rough i feel like I feel like it’s even more rough if he tries to do both and he sucks and then he also sucks as a captain and then we lose that’s that is the worst possible
the only scenario that makes him look good is playing well helping them win and winning the RDER Cup as captain so yeah he doesn’t really it’s it’s a losing situation if he plays
it’s a losing situation if he plays i think I think I think he has thought this in his head the entire time like I don’t gain anything i’ve already I’m already known as a you know a pretty good RDER Cup player throughout my career if I go out and play now and I’m not as good you know I’m not playing to the highest level of the game then I I can only it’s can only be it’s basically you know two of the three scenarios are negative towards me i might as well just not play i think that definitely played into his thought but he did say today after his win he did say that he kind of walked back the I won’t pick myself thing and he kind of said I never thought that I would be in a situation where I would pick myself but now that I have a win I want to do what’s best for the team
yeah that sounds like hubris to me um and pride cometh before the fall
we’ll see we’ll be rooting for him 12 years
i mean it would be pretty embarrassing how many times has the US won on US soil in a row he He has a lot of pressure on him he has a lot of pressure like he was skating by here for a while but now with the live thing and Brooks not definitely on the team and a lot of the USA guys who you thought were going to be in the mix playing very poorly this year and you got some no names for the RDER Cup but you know names to to regular to guys who have watching the tour all year um
yeah but who gives a about the tour
agreed agreed he’s in a tough spot keegan is in a tough spot so we’ll be following obviously follow us we’ll keep you updated follow us on social media
it also takes a gig takes a gigantic set of balls to pick yourself to play on a Ryder Cup team too sure does you’ll be you’d be real proud of yourself if you lose yeah I picked myself to win and I lost that’s brutal again scenarios are tough
all All All scenarios right now for Keegan are are super tough and he made it tough by playing well which stinks because like he didn’t do anything wrong he just went out there and has played well all season long and now he you know wins on the 72nd hole and every question is immediately you got to put yourself on the team like he’s not he did nothing besides all everything you want him to do go out there and play good golf that’s all he did it it seems like he’s being uh penalized for his his excellent play anyway let’s move on this is not a Ryder Cup show not yet we’ll get into the Ryder Cup after the live season events live golf Dallas contest is getting real interesting after last event after live Virginia super interesting and not in a good way because Jerome’s still leading uh give us the update on the scores uh
you know it’s so weird because for the last two events
I could have sworn all of you talked just so much about my my my time being up
i didn’t
I love the confidence now yeah i mean it’s easy for you to say afterwards you were in your pants the last two weeks okay but I tried to make the best picks that I could and things worked out so here we are che uh so we’re going to start in last place with you Aaron you loser
i’ve This is the last week I’m picking in last place i’m telling you that right now
okay yeah we’ll see about that uh we’ll see what happens next week um you are 45 under jay you are 49 under
before you broke
oh sorry i thought I went way
nope chich you’re 48 under then it’s Jay then it’s Jay at 49 under
and I’m at 58 under
hell of a comeback by me
by you
me let’s go
i’ve been dead last all year i’ I got a chance to get out of the skirt this week easy i got all the big
I think it’s more of a collapse than it is a uh
kitten there’s so much from you there’s so much time left to pick i went from last the first two weeks to Aaron going last i’m making my way back baby come on i’m in second now
yeah but I’m choking
yeah well
by the same margin I beat you last Monday
so what are our picks here
let’s make our picks um I obviously picked first
i am taking the team that won the team championship in Dallas last year i’m taking Ripper and I wanted to double up because aces and uh Thomas Peters did well but um it’s a little just too scared to do that i really want to get out of this skirt scenario so I’m going to play it kind of safe and I’m going to take Waco Nean haven’t taken him yet so I’ll take the best player plus the team that won in Dallas last week i already might skip this week
and hope that this is it’s locked in hope that this is the week change
all right I’m going to go I’m going to go with uh John Rom because I still have Rom on the board and I need to get back and pass Jay so I’m going to take Rom and I am going to go I’m going to go with Smash this week i got to use them and I have left for team so I’m going to go with Smash
tough tough tough okay
at least I’m honest right
sure are maybe Taylor maybe maybe Taylor should be happy after his Thunder win the NBA championship i mean Hallebertton did tears Achilles yeah he’s That was gross dude anyway go ahead
i’m going to go team four aces and uh player torn here i think I’m going to go I’m going to go Ah which one let’s go graham McDow whoa
oh
that’s got to be the That has got to be the first GMAC pick
in three years in three it has to be
let’s go baby who does he fired up
i hope you I hope you enjoy second place
he plays for smash dude
he’s the fourth
he’s the fourth best player on his team I think what a pick that would be this would be a phenomenal pick
just wait
this would be a phenomenal pick he was in it I I I have to say he wasn’t in Virginia he played well in Virginia
so he’s coming he’s coming in with some confidence
he did he played real well in Virginia he did
he just threw Jerome’s whole game off he has no idea now he’s like I don’t even know Gray McDow was in the league still
i I I can honestly say I have never heard that guy’s name
my god let’s go
amazing makes me even more happy when I worked at Circuit City those were the high days of Graham McDow woof
that was not Circuit City uh Dicks Dick Sportingus those were the the heydays
not that anybody cares but you guys ready for my picks
i mean
you’ve been waiting
thought you were on a delay like
I’m all ears
so I’ve been saving this pick uh for Dallas h I’m going with Bryson and uh my team pick uh had to go back to the drawing board so I’m gonna go with the high-f flyers
you have to take them got to take everybody at some point
yeah you can’t hate on the team pick you can’t hate on the team pick
i gotta got to take them
hey they got me team points nice
this is the week Bryson said he was going to experiment with the Spalding clubs so hopefully
Mhm crashes and burns but yeah hopefully he finishes in last place
at least if he does well you could post a picture of all of us
plus 35
very cool at least my legs still look youthful so that
goodness so we I mentioned off the top of the show Live Golf Dallas we do this real quick live golf Dallas is the point in the season after the final round after championship Sunday where the standings matter for an exemption into the field at the Open Championship the British Open and at Port Rush currently Sergio Garcia holds that spot but there are some guys who are not in the field yet who are not very far behind him in points and could leap him with like a top let’s say a top fiveish finish and a Sergio no points finish in Dallas so Sergio which is not crazy to think Sergio falling outside the top 24 because he’s not been playing well of late and then these guys a chance get to get into the top five so real quickly Jay I’m just going to he’s just going to give me one name it which one of these four players would you either one rather see in the open championship than Sergio or two think can outscore Sergio by enough points in Dallas to pass him lucas Herbert Sebastian Munoz Dean Burmister or David Bouch you’d rather see him or you think that he’s gonna get it done
i think I think he can I think he can s I think he can get the spot i think I I’d like to see Sergio more than Pooj but I think Pooj Pooge could do it
you got a favorite that’s not Sergio for that exemption herby herby
yeah Bingo he’s been playing too well winning on the Asian Tour Ben you know super consistent probably I would say of all those guys he probably deserves this i’m not saying no one that Sergio doesn’t deserve it because it was his career and legacy he certainly deserves it but of the rest of the pack Lucas Herbert’s played the best deserves to be in the field jerome I’ll go at you i also think that if Herby get if Herby gets in the field he can he can do some damage like I think he could play well if he got in the field like he would be one of those surprise surprise guys that finished you know top 10 top 15
love it be amazing sure you got a feel for any any of those four guys over Sergio yeah I think Herbert could do it i mean he’s had a really good season so far i mean only two two bad finishes this year i mean he’s obviously sitting right behind Serge in the rankings so I mean if there’s any that could overtake the least right needs the least amount of point differential in this in this event for sure um selfishly I I hope Sergio turns it around and has a good week because I do like Sergio and I hope he gets to play at the
I’m with you too i I like Serge i’ I’d rather him go but you know I think her if if it’s not Sergio it’ll be Herbert
huge
i think we all want Sergio to make it i think we all I think we all secret really want Sergio to make it even Jack
and it sucks and it sucks because at most the live not at most but at Yeah at most the Liv Gothley can only get one exemption they There’s ways where they could get zero exemptions like if the guys like Leashman and Carlos Ortiz I think are both already in the field so if like Leechman and Carlos Ortiz jump up enough in the standings to be fourth and fifth then the sixth person whoever that is who’s not exempt does not get into the field
so like Liv no they don’t get in they’re out and so Liv can it can only be from the top five so you have to be in the top five and then also not already in the field that is that’s kind of to me that’s worship
like give a spot or don’t give a spot you the standings either are good or the standings aren’t good like you can’t you can’t you can’t play both you can’t be like you have to be X whatever number player and now I know I see where they’re trying to protect themselves like if the top 14 guys now Yeah you got guys 15 and maybe okay we’re talking about five five spots that’s That’s just pittance compared to the other exemptions that are given
pga Tour OWGR all those things it’s whack we’re going We’re going We’re going with big guns we’re going probably with the you know the best group that we can put together but yeah be nice
so last chance to get one this year a lot of pressure going going a season without a major championship for Liv would be uh It’d be a long offseason boys
oh yeah be a long off season a lot of a lot of negativity and uh and then the fact that potentially Bryson is the only live player to play on the American uh Rder Cup team that’s that’s a long off season that’s a lot
it would be it would be not to put pick Brooks just for his track record at that course for sure and the fact that uh he finished T12 at the US Open so you know he still has a little something there he’s got a little something in the big big moments on the big courses he’s still got it all right well uh that was a exhausting 40 minutes for someone who knows they’re gonna have to edit for the next three days to get this thing just now
i’ll take I’ll take that one
it’s all good terrell take us
thank you so much for listening please hit like please hit subscribe hit the bell in the corner so you get notifications when we’re posting comment below who you think’s going to win live Dallas and let us know uh some suggestions for internet service for cheat so that we don’t keep having this issue maybe if one of you guys out there in the internet in the ether uh do this for a living you could you know reach out to us and try and you know hook Chich up so that we don’t keep having this problem j2 I mean like maybe a twofer because
he does have a new cell phone service after tomorrow so it might work it might work he’s getting off jay gets off jay’s getting off so easy because it changes connection it’s unbelievable mine’s a technical malfunction his is poor service yeah right yours is you don’t know how to use
i’ll have a new service after tomorrow so we’ll see maybe maybe it works
lighting up dude
who knew that that that missing thumb was the issue the whole time god look at that
missing thumb missing teeth it’s all the same
keep that thing up there for a second so I can get a screenshot to talk that thing out there
the child and the child that came from that has half a thumb
oh god somewhere
this This is This is by far the most disgusting three minutes in the history of our show i got to get So we have to top it
let’s get the out of here [Music]