Keegan Bradley takes Xander Schauffele's side on Ryder Cup’s ‘too many dinners and galas’
Keegan Bradley has echoed Xander Schauffele's concerns about too many dinners and parties during Ryder Cup week. However, he cited several obligations that made it difficult to say no to those events.
The 2025 Ryder Cup, which will be played at Bethpage Black Course, is just a year away. While Luke Donald is set to return as Europe's captain, the US has chosen Keegan Bradley as their leader.
On Tuesday, October 8, Team US captain Bradley and Europe's captain Luke Donald held a Ryder Cup press conference in New York. During the press conference, the US skipper was asked about his opinion on Schauffele's comments regarding Ryder Cup parties.
"Listen, you come into a Ryder Cup and you know you have a lot of obligations," Keegan Bradley said. "You're going to have to do things that you wouldn't normally do at a major week that is part of the deal."
"Xander is a leader of the US Team. He is a guy that everyone on the team looks up to, including their captain. He's just an unbelievable person and a critical part of our team. I think when he says that, he's just trying to look out for his other teammates. He's nothing but amazing in the team room and with the players," he added.
Earlier this year, Schauffele had hoped that the new captain would cut down on the obligatory dinners and parties during the Ryder Cup week. He was quoted as saying via Golf:
"Taking a bunch of photos all dressed up. I would be the first guy that I need to flee quickly. It just seems like it’s all these little, even like team dinners or things of that nature, we can have them sort of quick and inside versus having to go out, dress up and all those things."
"I'm going to take the 12 best players." - Keegan Bradley clears his stance on picking LIV Golf players in Ryder Cup
Keegan Bradley clarified that he would choose the six best players as captain's picks, irrespective of their affiliation with LIV Golf or not.
"I'm going to take the 12 best players," he said. "So if we feel like there's a few guys there, one guy, two guys, whatever it is, then we're going to do that."
Bradley added that there was still a lot of time left, but he assured that he was going to pick the 12 best players.
So far, Brooks Koepka is the only LIV golfer who has played in the Ryder Cup. Last year, he was picked by Zach Johnson after an impressive performance in major championships.