Keegan Bradley’s prospects of becoming the first player-captain for the U.S. squad in the Ryder Cup since Arnold Palmer in 1963 took another step forward.
Team Europe captain Luke Donald agreed to amend the “captains’ agreement” to allow one of Bradley’s assistant captains to act as a de facto captain at Bethpage Black in September if the American golfer was playing during a session, according to a report by The Telegraph.
Traditionally, only the team captain is permitted to give advice to players during the Ryder Cup — ranging from what club to use to where to try to place a shot in the fairway — but the rule change would allow for the designated assistant to step in.
“Keegan can only change the overarching contract with Luke and Ryder Cup Europe’s approval,” a source told the outlet. “The contract between the teams includes things like how many vice-captains a team can have, etc. That is used year on year and captains rarely change that. But Keegan went to Luke with this clause and Luke generously agreed. We don’t want any bad blood between the camps.”
According to the report, Jim Furyk is suggested to be the one who would move into the captain role while Bradley was playing.
Furyk had been the captain of the American Ryder Cup team in 2018 when they lost to the Europeans in Paris.
Bradley is currently in 10th in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings with four weeks until the top six golfers earn an automatic spot on the team and then the team captain gets six selections to make.
The U.S. squad is hoping that home-course advantage will help them and extend a streak that began back in 2014, when the host team has been victorious in the past five Ryder Cups.
The last American win came in 2021 when they defeated the Europeans at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.
The Ryder Cup will be back on American soil this year when it arrives at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, from Sept. 26-28.
Bradley has already said that he would select himself if he doesn’t receive an automatic bid “if it helps the team.”
The U.S. captain also confirmed to Sports Illustrated on Sunday that LIV Golf star and two-time U.S. Open winner Bryson DeChambeau would be on the Ryder Cup squad.
“Bryson is going to be a very important piece to us winning the Ryder Cup,” Bradley told SI in a text. “He brings so much. He brings energy, passion but most importantly, he’s one of the best players on the planet.”