Fleetwood's stumble gives US Bradley-sized Ryder Cup headache

Fleetwood was magnanimous in defeat as Bradley celebrated his eighth PGA Tour victory, including his 2011 US PGA Championship title As Tommy Fleetwood continues to wrestle with how to get over the winning line on the PGA Tour, American golf is trying to fathom how having a playing captain might work at this year's Ryder Cup. Both issues were brought into sharp focus by Keegan Bradley's dramatic victory over Fleetwood at the Travellers Championship in Connecticut last Sunday. It was the Englishman's sixth runner-up finish on the US-based circuit and this one "hurts". A lot. Fleetwood stumbled on the home stretch to let in his tall, broad-shouldered American opponent for a win that emphasises a growing feeling that he should return to the US Ryder Cup playing roster for this September's match against Europe at Bethpage. If the contest was next week, Bradley's inclusion as a player would be a no brainer. Indeed, even with high golfing summer to come, he has already done enough to warrant selection from his captain this autumn. Ah. He is the captain. Who might he leave out if he has to pick himself? And is it possible in the modern era to do both jobs well enough to be successful at both? They are huge questions that could easily undermine the American effort amid an expected cacophony on Long Island in New York. Cool heads will be required amid a pressure packed and passionately partisan din. This was always a potential dilemma from the moment, a year ago, that the 39-year-old became a shock selection to lead America's quest to regain that precious pot of gold. And the Ryder Cup is a much bigger entity than it was in 1963 when Arnold Palmer was the last playing captain. In those days they played morning and afternoon on each of the three days and Palmer played all six sessions, winning four points, in an overall 23-9 victory. It was routine stuff that barely resonated beyond the golf village. The modern Ryder Cup is one of the biggest and most trancsendent sporting events on the planet. Captaincy is all consuming; potentially contentious and controversial and often pivotal to the final outcome. Playing is exhausting too. Combining both roles effectively seems nigh on impossible. Or at least it was thought to be until Bradley got the call from the PGA of America's then boss Seth Waugh last year. "We want you to be the first playing captain since Palmer," was the gist of Waugh's stunning call to a player who had been cruelly overlooked as a player for the 2023 defeat in Rome. It was and remains a bizarre selection, a reflection that with Tiger Woods wanting to wait for the 2027 match, the US cupboard of candidates was bare. "In my opinion there is just no way that you could be a captain nowadays of a Ryder Cup or a Presidents Cup and play," said Trevor Immelman after commentating for CBS on Bradley's latest victory. "There are so many responsibilities at the feet of the captain. So many decisions that have to be made before the tournament and then during the week. "You want your players to be single-minded, focused on themselves. To be focused on the high pressure situation they are in. "But now you've got a guy in Keegan Bradley, who absolutely should be playing." South African Immelman captained the International team in the 2022 Presidents Cup and is in charge of the official world rankings which have Bradley riding high at number seven with only five Americans ahead of him. And if you think the OWGR is compromised by the LIV induced split in the men's game, Data Golf, which reflects all tours, currently puts only four Americans above the US captain. He lies ninth on the qualifying list for the 12-man team. "You cannot even start an argument with me trying to explain that he is not among the 12 best American golfers," Immelman added. "So they're in a tough spot. The water's just got a little murky for them, because how does he not play, right now?" Bradley insists there is planning in place for this situation, saying he would be a playing captain who would lean heavily on his assistants. Of those only Jim Furyk has captaincy credence with the relatively inexperienced Kevin Kisner, Webb Simpson and Brandt Snedeker in the background. It is a far from ideal situation. Europe, meanwhile, have the inspirational and analytical Luke Donald watching on, no doubt wondering whether he can exploit all this uncertainty to help land a rare away win. Donald has witnessed a series of European wins on American soil this year from the likes of Rory McIlroy (three times including the Players and Masters), Ludvig Aberg, Sepp Straka (twice), Thomas Detry and Viktor Hovland. And Fleetwood should have added to the list at TPC River Highlands last week after dominating the Signature Event until suffering two bogeys in the last three holes. The certainty of his game that had garnered a winning position evaporated on the closing stretch and he three putted from off the front of the final green to allow Bradley his birdie chance for glory. The atmosphere was akin to a Ryder Cup. The galleries were packed; Bradley, the local hero who is accompanied by vociferous chants of "U-S-A, U-S-A" wherever he plays, was nerveless. He emphasised his playing credentials for late September by slotting home from slightly shorter range than where Fleetwood had missed on a near identical line. Heartbreak for Tommy. Getting over the line is never easy but the Englishman seems to find it harder than most for a man of his undoubted and considerable ball-striking talents. He has top-five finishes in all four majors but while he has won seven times on the DP World Tour in a 15-year career, this is the closest he has come to breaking his duck on US soil. At the key moments his putting becomes tentative when for other world class talents it tends to be clinical. There is a considerable hurdle to be leapt for him to graduate to the glory that is commensurate with the rest of his golfing gifts. But happily from a European point of view he is a different animal in the Ryder Cup, where matchplay dictates positivity on the greens. He won four out of five points in Paris on debut in 2018. Two years ago he won three points out of four and calmly secured the winning moment against Rickie Fowler in the cauldron of an ever tightening final day in Rome. Even in the 2021 record trouncing by 19 points to 9 at Whistling Straits, Fleetwood was beaten only once in his three matches. Donald will be thrilled to have him on his team again this year where he is likely to resume a successful partnership with McIlroy. In some ways, Fleetwood is a modern equivalent to former Ryder Cup rocks Colin Montgomerie and Lee Westwood, who individually never quite fulfilled their potential in the biggest events but were usually men possessed in European colours. What chance Fleetwood clashing with Bradley again this autumn in the bear pit of Bethpage? What a delicious prospect and despite Sunday's defeat, the Southport native remains one of eight worldwide players above Bradley on the Data Golf rankings. Bradley was on the losing side the last time there was an away win, at Medinah in 2012, and lost again at Gleneagles in the following match. He has not played for the US Ryder Cup team since, but he likely will this time and as the captain. No-one could be more motivated. It is a scenario that might inspire, but the overall demands could inhibit. And if they do, Fleetwood and co could capitalise.