“Should he, or shouldn’t he?” That is the rhetorical question tossed around by talking heads, writers, players, and the man himself.
The matter at hand, of course, is whether Keegan Bradley should choose himself as a captain’s pick for next month’s Ryder Cup.
Tiger Woods chose himself as a captain’s pick for the 2019 Presidents Cup and won three points for the Americans at Royal Melbourne. Arnold Palmer, Sam Snead, and Ben Hogan have all been playing captains in the Ryder Cup.
If you get past the status and aura surrounding being a captain, not much changes for any playing captain. Whether they are playing captains or a non-playing captain, they will still be at the golf course early, still conduct interviews with the media, still speak with other players, will still be at the first tee at some point(s), will still go on the golf course, will still visit with players after their match finishes, and will meet with the media afterwards.
A difference is that a playing captain is warming up on the range beforehand and will be playing the course instead of hanging out with the players and watching. Realistically, a captain will have a lot of downtime while the matches are in progress. The downtime gets subbed out for playing golf if the captain is a playing captain.
Thinking more logically about what a captain needs to do in a Ryder Cup. Since Friday and Saturday have morning and afternoon sessions, when the morning sessions are finishing, the captain is wise to planning who plays the afternoon and who does not.
If Keegan Bradley plays and wants to play in either morning session, it would make the most sense for him to play in the first match. The issue there is that he will be accosted if he rewards himself the honor of the opening tee shot, then loses even though it makes the most sense.
More broadly, Bradley has named five vice captains. Why he needs five is a mystery. If he has four, one captain accompanies each of the four morning and four afternoon matches on Friday and Saturday, and can report back. If Keegan does not play, perhaps he has decided he needed a fifth so that one can keep track and report to him while he manages other perceived duties.
If Keegan plays, perhaps whoever the fifth captain is will be the de facto captain while he plays and will catch him up periodically while he is playing and after finishing.
Regardless of what Keegan decides, his decision to pick himself or not is unenviable. If he picks himself – and he is worthy of a pick – but plays poorly, he will feel the wrath from every corner of the American side.
If he picks himself and plays well, he will become the answer to a future trivia question. If he passes on himself and the team wins, he will be said to have done the right thing. If he passes on himself and the team loses, he will have to answer what if he picked himself.
Should he or shouldn’t he? The answer is coming soon.