'It was tough': New Englander Keegan Bradley uses possible Ryder Cup snub as motivation

NORTON — When Keegan Bradley was about to hop in his car Monday at TPC Boston to head to the airport, he was asked if he knew where the inaugural Ryder Cup was played.

The Vermont native and former state medalist at Hopkinton High didn’t hesitate before correctly answering, “Worcester Country Club.”

Worcester CC hosted the first Ryder Cup in 1927. Bradley, who earned his sixth PGA Tour title at the Travelers Championship in June, has never played Worcester CC, but said he’d love to some day.

“It would be great,” he said. “I think it’s super cool that it was at Worcester Country Club, but I’ve just never been able to play it. But it’s a pretty major part of golf history, it being held there. It’s cool.”

Just then someone walking by recognized him and told him, “You should have been on the Ryder Cup team.”

“Thank you,” Bradley replied.

Winning the Travelers ranks very high on his list of accomplishments, but not being one of Zach Johnson’s six captains picks for the 2023 U.S. Ryder Cup team was one of his deepest disappointments. He watched much of the Ryder Cup on television as the U.S. lost, 16-½-11-½, to Europe in Rome last month.

“It was pretty difficult,” he told me in an interview in the TPC Boston clubhouse. “First and foremost, I’m a fan of Team USA, so I was watching as a fan, but I couldn’t help but wonder if I could have made a difference. It was tough. It was tougher to watch this one because I was so close to making the team, but it’s motivation to try to make the team in the future.”

Bradley is ranked 18th in the Official World Golf Rankings, higher than four of Johnson’s six captains picks: Collin Morikawa, Rickie Fowler, Justin Thomas and Sam Burns.

The six U.S. captain’s Ryder Cup picks, including Jordan Spieth and Brooks Koepka, posted a dismal 4-12-4 record. Does he feel he could have fared better?

“I struggle with that,” he said, “because in my head, my ego says, ‘Of course, I could,’ but then I think that’s a selfish thing to say because of how good these players are. But I think I’m a good teammate, and I would have helped the team.”

Bradley would like to see the U.S. Ryder Cup captain devise a game plan the way a football coach prepares an offensive or defense scheme and not vary from it.

Bradley, 37, compiled a 4-3 record for the U.S. in the Ryder Cup in 2012 and 2014, and he was 2-2-1 in the 2013 Presidents Cup. He went 0-3 in singles matches, however.

“I was expecting to play in every Ryder Cup for the next decade,” he admitted.

More recently, he came to peace with the fact that he might never play in another Ryder Cup, but he got his hopes up after winning the Travelers. That’s why it hurt even more when he wasn’t selected this year as a captain’s pick.

Bradley grew up in Woodstock, Vermont, and lived in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for two years. Prior to his senior year, he moved to Hopkinton, not far from TPC Boston, and while competing for Hopkinton High, he was the Division 2 state medalist in 2004.

The Travelers Championship held a media day on Monday, but it was held at TPC Boston in Norton, about a two-hour drive from the Travelers’ home course, TPC River Highlands, in Cromwell, Connecticut.

As the only PGA Tour event in New England, the Travelers wanted to spread the word about the longtime Connecticut event. TPC Boston hosted 17 PGA Tour events, but hasn’t had one since 2020 when Dustin Johnson won the Northern Trust there and is not scheduled to host another.

The Travelers will be held June 20-23 next year and will be a Signature Event with 70-80 players competing for a $20 million purse and no cut.

Bradley said he hopes the PGA Tour returns to TPC Boston.

“I really miss playing here,” he said. “I have incredible memories of coming here. The first time I saw Tiger Woods was out here when I came to a Tour event. I think it’s important that we have tournaments in New England, but Boston particularly because for people from New England, Boston is the capital, and I think that sports in New England are different than anywhere else, and I think that golf in late summer and fall in New England is the best place to play golf in the world.”

As a PGA Tour rookie in 2011, he won the Byron Nelson Championship and the PGA Championship to earn the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year award.

Later, Bradley suffered through some lean years, and he admitted it took him a lot longer than he expected to regain his touch on the greens after the belly putter was banned. Finally, he hired a coach, Phil Kenyon, who helped him learn how to putt again.

Bradley tied for second at the Travelers in 2019, won the Zozo Championship in October 2022 for his first victory in four years and won the Travelers last June while setting the tournament scoring record with a score of 23-under 257.

“When you work yourself back from a low place, you appreciate things more,” he said.

His victory in Cromwell at the Travelers meant a lot to the native New Englander.

“I felt the pressure on that Sunday, I really did,” he said. “I was nervous before the round. I was nervous the night before and when you go out and perform at a level under those sorts of nerves, things change, and I’ve felt like I’m better equipped to win another major after that because of the atmosphere and the pressure I felt that day.”

—Contact Bill Doyle at bcdoyle15@charter.net. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @BillDoyle15.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: New Englander Keegan Bradley uses possible Ryder Cup snub as motivation