Keegan Bradley does not want to lose hope. The United States captain has made an effort to create a narrative that opens the door to a miracle. His mantra is the 2017 Super Bowl. “I was there. The Atlanta Falcons were winning 28-3 and the Patriots ended up lifting the title in the greatest comeback in history. Crazy things happen in sports, why not this Sunday. We need 10 points. And if it doesn’t happen, let’s remember that it’s a privilege to go out on Sunday and play a Ryder Cup singles match at a course like Bethpage to defend your country,” he explained.
Obviously, it was not an easy press conference for the United States captain with such a large deficit (11.5-4.5). To date, it has been the biggest thrashing in history. Bradley assumes his responsibility, but at the same time gives all the credit to the European team. “I am the team leader. When they don’t perform, you have to take responsibility and look at what we did. I’m not saying that tomorrow we won’t go out and win this. But ultimately, the praise and the criticism will fall on the captain. It’s always like that. When you accept the role, you are aware that it’s a very real possibility. The highs are the highest in our sport and the lows are some of the lowest. You know that when you take the job. If your team doesn’t perform, you have to look at the leader first. You have to look at the coach. Tomorrow we are going to go out and play… just like they played today. They are going to go out and play as hard as they can. They are going to try to win every point. They are going to support their teammates and that’s what makes this group so great: they are there for each other.”
Regarding Europe’s prowess, Bradley tipped his hat. “The Europeans have played incredibly. It has been very impressive. It’s one of the best performances by a visiting team in any sport. They have played incredibly. They have played great. And they have putted even better. They have come to a hostile environment and played great golf. Sometimes, as a competitor, as an athlete, you have to step back and tip your hat to something like that. They have been a tough team. They have paired up wonderfully. And Luke is an incredible captain. He has done a great job this week.”
As for the course preparation, he admitted they would have preferred harder and faster greens, although he doesn’t want to use it as an excuse. “The greens are not as we wanted. They are super soft. They roll perfectly, but actually, it’s better to be in the rough than on the fairway on many holes. You need to hit from the rough so it doesn’t spin as much and doesn’t roll off the green. I’ve never seen the greens at Bethpage so soft. Even when we’ve played here and it’s rained, this is something I’ve never seen. Chips are spinning back. Historically, we play faster greens on the PGA TOUR than they do. When we go to their Open Championship, the greens are considerably slower than what we play in a normal week. I think at the Open Championship they are around 10, 10 and a half, maybe 11,” he noted.
When it was pointed out to the American captain that most Europeans actually play regularly on the PGA Tour, Bradley stammered a bit, limited himself to talking again about the British and avoided making it sound like an excuse. “I know that I… I struggle quite a bit when I go to the Open Championship. The greens are slow. I have putts from a metre and a half and leave them short. So you need a period of adaptation. But if you play good golf it doesn’t matter if the greens are very slow or very fast, if the rough is very high or very low. If you perform, you are going to win. They have played incredible golf so far,” he pointed out.
He again defended the pair Morikawa and Harris English, remembering that their rivals have played extraordinary golf, and made a staunch defence of Scottie Scheffler. “Someone from our team said today about Scheffler: He has the weight of the world on his shoulders. He is the Number One in the world and, still, he cared more about how Russell was doing than himself. Scottie has been the best teammate in our locker room this week. Period. He has been open to any pairing. He has been open to playing any session, five, four, two, it didn’t matter. He was one of the first to say we were going to go to Napa to play and be prepared. This means everything to him. This is tough. It happens in sports all the time. You want something so much that you don’t play as well. You need to be looser. I’ve seen Scottie, he’s played great. We’ve had strange things happen. I want to be very clear about what an incredible teammate Scottie Scheffler has been and what an incredible person he is. It would have been easy for the guys to get angry and feel sorry for themselves and drag their feet. Not a single person did that today, and Scottie is at the top of that list.”
Bradley had a small clash with a journalist regarding the behaviour of the crowd, among other things because the United States captain himself did not explain himself very well. This was the exchange:
Journalist: You mentioned the hostile environment. What was your perspective on that, the behaviour of some fans? Do you think a line was crossed?
KEEGAN BRADLEY: I didn’t see… I mean, I thought the fans were passionate. I mean, their home team is losing clearly. They are passionate fans. I wasn’t in Rome, but I heard many stories that Rome was also quite tough. But the New York fans, from what I’ve seen, have been quite good. You are always going to have a few people who cross the line and that’s unfortunate. I was glad to see our players trying to silence some who were like that. Part of it is our fault. We are not playing at the level they want to see and they are angry, and they should be.
Q. You said that the way your players have played is perhaps partly to blame for some fans crossing the line…
KEEGAN BRADLEY: I didn’t say that. That’s not what I said. I said that probably the fans are upset because their home team is losing. I didn’t say what you mentioned.
Q. But do you think that maybe part of the responsibility falls on you for some words you and your players used before, in the sense of heating up the crowd to create a hostile environment?
KEEGAN BRADLEY: What words were those?
Q. The talk about bringing chaos and the atmosphere here, Collin…
KEEGAN BRADLEY: Yes, Ryder Cups are wild. I don’t like those words you just said. I know what you’re trying to do. The Ryder Cup is full of passionate fans. It’s full of passionate players. And that wasn’t right.
Finally, it was a bit surprising that he seemed uninformed about what is happening with Viktor Hovland. He was asked if he had spoken to the player who would have to sit out if Hovland is injured and cannot play. “No. I… we have to go out there and play this tournament as it is supposed to be played. I have to go sort this out now. I’m still finding out what’s going on. I don’t know how it’s going to end. We’ll see in a few minutes.” Strange.
