ATLANTA — Keegan Bradley played a clean round of golf Friday at East Lake and climbed the leaderboard at the Tour Championship after a tough conclusion on the opening day of the season-ending FedEx Cup event.
That is potentially good for Bradley’s own financial bottom line in this $40 million tournament that pays $10 million to the winner.
But does it matter in the big picture of the Ryder Cup?
The competition begins five weeks from this weekend. Thirty five days is an eternity in golf. Lots can change. Bradley, the U.S. captain, will head to the PGA of America’s headquarters in Frisco, Texas, next week to announce his six captains picks.
On Sept. 11 he is expected to play alongside the U.S. team in the Procore Championship in Napa, California. The Ryder Cup is still another two weeks after that.
So one stroke-play round, with preferred lies at rainy East Lake in the heat of August, does not portend much as it relates to a match-play event at Bethpage Black in late September.
Bradley’s 64 that included six birdies and no bogeys likely has no bearing on his picks but it does again point to his own playing ability, one that seemed all but certain when he won the Travelers Championship in June. But has lately he's had some more pedestrian results, which brings into question his own playing status on the team.
“It’s going to be controversial no matter how we do it. I know that,” said Bradley, who is seven shots back of co-leaders Russell Henley and Tommy Fleetwood through two rounds. “It’s the biggest decision of my life.”
And it doesn’t seem to be any easier when the players around him are, for the most part, telling him he should play.
Bradley dismisses that, saying that he is being judged both good and bad by the assistant captains, including Jim Furyk.
“If there are negatives, I want to hear them,” Bradley said. “I would be more upset if they didn’t’ say them.
“I feel like I’m still one of the best players in the world. I figured the likelihood of me being completely out of the picture was probably kind of slim. Even if I was 20th in points, could win this tournament and you never know. We’ve been preparing for this. It certainly would be a lot easier if I was top six or way out of it. But it is what it is.”
Bradley ended up 11th in the points when the top six players were decided last week at the BMW Championship.
It’s the same position he was in two years ago when Zach Johnson did not select him, a decision that was made more fraught later when Bradley was filmed by Netflix getting the negative phone call. And certainly in the aftermath of a U.S. defeat.
Justin Thomas was one of the beneficiaries then—he was picked despite not making the playoffs—but finds himself in a much better position this time.
He is seventh in the points and seems sure to join Scottie Scheffler, J.J. Spaun, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, Harris English and Bryson DeChambeau on the U.S. team.
Form is fleeting and so much goes into these decisions that trying to decipher much from one last tournament seems fruitless.
“It's a lot. I think Keegan would say the same,” Thomas said. “I don't think he would say it's easy by any means. But I have myself, whatever other captains, automatic qualifiers have all the faith in the world that whatever he decides to do is going to be in the best interest of the team.”
Thomas would seemingly be a lock. Same for Collin Morikawa. It would be rare to not take the seventh and eighth finishers in the points and there are numerous reasons to pick those guys based on their past credentials as well.
But that doesn’t make the situation any less tenuous.
“You're never comfortable,” Morikawa said. “I don't think you're ever comfortable until you get that call and you're on the team. At the end of the day, this is a different type of event. I would say after qualifying, it's been two years' work, and the Ryder Cup is still a month away.
“Look, I hope I've done enough. We'll have to wait and see. But I think my focus right now is to try and go out and win this golf tournament. I think if I do that, then hopefully that's enough, and we'll see how everything plays out.”
The others in contention would be Ben Griffin, who finished ninth in points, Maverick McNealy, who was 10th, Bradley, Brian Harman, Andrew Novak, Cam Young, Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns.
If you assume that Thomas and Cantlay are in, then that’s eight players for four spots. It’s why Bradley’s own candidacy makes it more difficult.
“I’ve been in this position before where I’m trying to make the team,” said Bradley, who played on the Ryder Cup team in both 2012 and 2014. “This is really strange for me to be the captain. It’s not really something anyone has ever really gone through.
“I’m looking at the board at all day. Not looking for me. Looking for where my guys are. It’s just really odd. It’s a really strange feeling to look at the board and have no feeling where I stand but seeing where our guys are. That’s the opposite of what we do every week. Its definitely strange. I’m going to be really happy when this week is over. I’ve about had it with this whole thing. I’m ready to figure out what we’re doing and get the team together.”
Bradley said he will go home to Florida after the tournament and discussions will continue. He is scheduled to go to PGA of America headquarters on Tuesday with the announcement on Wednesday morning.
“I have a pretty good idea,” Bradley said. “But we’re going to wait to see how this week plays out. This is a huge event. Like I said, the points are a two-year process. It would be silly to have it come down to one event, one round on Sunday. But certainly this is an important event that we could look at and rely on for our players.”
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Keegan Bradley's Ryder Cup Decision Isn't Getting Any Easier This Week.