Phil Mickelson had a five-word message after Keegan Bradley’s thrilling victory at the Travelers Championship, putting the Team USA captain in the frame to play in the Ryder Cup
Phil Mickelson lauded Keegan Bradley after his win at the Travelers(Image: Tasos Katopodis/Washington Post via Getty Images)
Phil Mickelson was quick to heap praise on Keegan Bradley after the U.S. Ryder Cup captain pulled off a stunning victory at the Travelers Championship on Sunday.
Bradley trailed Tommy Fleetwood by one shot at TPC River Highlands in Connecticut walking up the last, but he struck a beautiful approach to put the pressure on the leader. The Englishman wilted, coming up short with his wedge shot to leave his ball on the fringe of the green.
From there, he three-putted for bogey, and Bradley duly knocked home his six-footer to clinch a memorable victory in his native New England – banking a handsome $3.6 million in prize money in the process. The delighted crowd chanted “USA” on repeat in what promises to be a significant moment in the build-up to the Ryder Cup at Bethpage in September.
LIV Golf star Mickelson took to social media to join the tributes to Bradley’s performance. The six-time major champion posted: “Keegan Bradley is THE MAN!!”
Bradley was a shock pick when he was named the Ryder Cup captain for Bethpage. The 39-year-old remains among the game’s best players and his victory on Sunday lifted him to a career-best seventh in the world rankings.
The 2011 PGA champion is ninth in the U.S. qualification standings, and is hard to argue that he is not among the 12 best players heading into the battle with Europe in New York.
Bradley stunned Tommy Fleetwood to win at TPC River Highlands(Image: Ben Jared/PGA TOUR)
Conventional wisdom, though, is that the task of being a playing captain is too much of a burden to shoulder. No one has fulfilled the role since Arnold Palmer in 1962.
Bradley indicated on Sunday that he had no interest in relinquishing his captaincy duties while also talking up his chances of teeing it up at Bethpage.
“It’s still June so we have got a long way to go [but] this definitely changes things a little bit,” Bradley said. “This definitely opens the door to play. I don’t know if I’m going to do it or not but I certainly have to take a pretty hard look at what’s best for the team.
“Every year I was out here, I wanted to play on the Ryder Cup team, and then this would be the first year where maybe I didn’t want to. I just wanted to be the captain and, of course, this is what happens.”
In a subsequent interview with Golf Channel, Bradley said he would play “If I feel like it will help the team,” but he made clear he would remain as captain in that scenario. Instead of stepping down, he would delegate more responsibility to vice captains Webb Simpson, Jim Furyk, Brandt Snedeker and Kevin Kisner.
Bradley is certainly trending towards being part of the 12-man team that tries to wrest the trophy back from Luke Donald’s Europeans, but history shows it would be a huge risk to split his duties between playing and leading.
