After the brilliant performances of Keegan Bradley, the US Ryder Cup captain, the public quickly reacted to the possibility of him having a dual role at this years Ryder Cup.
The 39-year-old has a great chance to serve as a player-captain at Bethpage Black this September, but can he perform both roles equally well?
There is almost no golf figure who does not share an opinion about his double roll.
It seems that the majority is not delighted with such an option, believing that Bradley will have difficulties to be equally good in both roles.
Ryan Lavner, a well-known golf figure, notes that it is not gratifying to criticize Bradley solely because of his brilliant games in the last tournaments.
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I think overall this is why I thought it was so silly to crowd Keegan Bradley after he won that signature event over Tommy Fleetwood, he said.
At that point there were still three months to go in the process and claiming just because Keegan Bradley moved inside the top 10 in the world rankings, just because he had moved in the top 10 in the US team standings and just because he won a signature event, it should not have put him automatically on the team and then in a position to be a playing captain.
Think about what has happened in the three months since then. Chris Gotterup has arrived, he won the second strongest regular season event on the PGA Tour in the Scottish Open and followed it up with a third place finish in his very first Open Championship. Also had an opportunity to win the 3M."- he said, as quoted by The Golfing Gazette.
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Lavner asks the following question: Is Bradley so important that he has to be in the team? He believes not. Lavner is convinced that Gotterup's form, as well as Young's, makes it easier for Bradley to retire and leave his role to others.
Lavner is a person who expects that Bradley will primarily be the captain, and serve as a strong motivator, tactician and advisor to his players.
Potential defeat and reactions
If the captain is absent and focused on some things, it could make the job of the US teams much more difficult.
A loss for the US team at this years edition would be a strong blow for everyone, but especially for the captain.
Given that the European team also has a strong roster, the public calls for caution, stressing that Keegan should focus exclusively on the role of captain, and leave the role of player to someone else.
