Opinion: Keegan Bradley could have chosen himself for US Ryder Cup team

Keegan Bradley (Facebook)

The American Ryder Cup roster is set for the end of next month at Bethpage Black. For the first time, players will be paid.

On Wednesday, the United States named its team, and there was a little surprise that American Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley of Woodstock, Vermont did not choose himself. That is because Bradley is ranked 11th in the Official World Golf Rankings. He is ahead of Ben Griffin (17th), Bryson DeChambeau (18th), Cameron Young (20th), and Patrick Cantlay (21st), who are four American golfers on the Ryder Cup team. The fact that DeChambeau is on the Ryder Cup team is interesting when he is on the LIV Tour. 

There was speculation that Bradley would choose himself because of his exceptional play at the Travelers Championship earlier this year. Bradley shot a four round score -15 and beat Tommy Fleetwood of England by a stroke. Fleetwood made golf headlines this past weekend as he won on the PGA Tour for the first time, as he won the Tour Championship.

There are seven more golfers on the American team. They are world number one Scottie Scheffler, world number three Xander Schauffele, world number four Russell Henley, world number five Justin Thomas, world number seven JJ Spaun, world number eight Collin Morikawa, and world number 10 Harris English.

Half of the European team have already been selected. They are world number two Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, Fleetwood (world number six), Robert MacIntyre of Scotland (world number nine), Justin Rose of England (world number 12), Tyrrell Hatton of England (world number 25), and Rasmus Hojgaard of Denmark (world number 64).