After 2 strong words, Keegan Bradley revealed the feelings of the LIV Golf-Ryder Cup

Keegan Bradley says he wants the best players.

Then he said those last words again.

And again.

As Bradley spoke on Tuesday at a press conference introducing him as the American captain in the Ryder Cup to be held at Bethpage Black next year, he was expressing his feelings about how he will face LIV Golf. Can he pick players from a three-season-old, Saudi-backed league that has fought the PGA Tour? Last year, before the biennial event, the predecessor had it. Can Bradley go to LIV events to check? Last year, his predecessor apparently did not.

However, Bradley said he would and said he would not hesitate to choose LIV. Three times when he answered the question of how he will treat LIV players, he commented on his team’s qualifications.

The best players.

“I will have the best 12 players on the team,” said Bradley. “I don’t care where they play. Therefore, we have a task to win this competition. I’m not worried about the LIV stuff.

“I want high-quality players in the team.

“When we get to Bethpage in 2025, we don’t know what the shape of the golf world will be like. As for going to LIV events, if there are guys on the edge, I’m willing to do that. Again, I’ve only been captain for two weeks and we still haven’t got any real points, which will start next year. So I will have to wait and see how everything will go, and my main concern is to have the best players in the team.”

In particular, since the creation of the LIV, there has been one other Ryder Cup where this has been addressed, and there has been one other American captain who had to address the LIV: last year, when Zach Johnson did so. In the end, he chose LIV pro Brooks Koepka among his six captains’ picks from the 12-man squad that lost to the European team in Italy, and last July, Johnson explained his LIV process this way:

“When it comes to the Ryder Cup, our plan, if you will, was already solid last year and when we decided as the Ryder Cup committee how we wanted to go in this area.

“My point when I say that is that what’s happening in professional golf from a competitive level, a competitive level, is the PGA Tour; right? It’s not the PGA of America [which runs the U.S. Ryder Cup team]. So Americans who play on other tours that aren’t the PGA Tour, they can play, I mean, technically the Latin Tour or the Asian Tour anywhere. Many times they will be members of the PGA of America for several reasons. Our liability insurance is premium and other benefits.

“These guys who left the PGA Tour who had a position and went to play on another tour, the LIV Tour, are still members of the PGA of America, so they can still collect points. They can play in the PGA Championship as a result because that’s what the PGA of America runs. Obviously, technically, he could still be part of Team USA. “

But could Johnson watch the LIV pros in their tournaments? At the time, to determine the six automatic selections on the team and the opportunity to help select the six captains, the US used a ranking system that awarded points based on PGA Tour and major tournament play — and the former was restricted to LIV players. Under the program, Koepka finished in seventh place, largely due to a win at the PGA Championship.

There, in May, Johnson had this exchange, initiated by a reporter:

“At the beginning of the week you said you never saw LIV Golf, you didn’t go out to watch it. Is that what you will change? We saw it at the Masters, we see it here…”

“Are you waiting for me,” said Johnson, “to go to LIV events and show off?”

“Yes. As a captain, it seems reasonable if these guys…”

“I think the comfort of being a captain,” Johnson said, “is that I’m still important and I’m still on the PGA Tour and that’s where my situation is. So to give that up in a week where I can go to where a lot of my players are going to show up, I don’t know when the time will tell, but a lot will come from there. It would not be irresponsible on my behalf and it would be inappropriate if I were to leave what I am trying to do as a competitor and as a leader.”

“Is that going to last like the rest of the season? Don’t you have plans to go to any?”

“It wasn’t discussed,” Johnson said. “I’m not someone who can say I’ve never been, but it’s not discussed.”

Later in the interview, Johnson was asked about watching the LIV broadcast.

Do you catch a CW event to watch their broadcast or YouTube?

“CW”? Johnson asked.

“It’s right there on TV.”

“I didn’t know that,” Johnson said. “I see – I have to ask my kids. I think I got CW.”

“The point is, can you still evaluate and analyze players without watching them?”

“Sure, that’s what I’m saying,” Johnson said. “There is no need for me to be there. I’m not at the US Open, and looking at my travel schedule and what I have after that and before that, there’s no reason for me to go out there and watch when I can watch television.”

On Tuesday, at Bradley’s press conference, one LIV player was brought up.

Phil Mickelson.

In the two Ryder Cups that Bradley has qualified for, he paired with Mickelson to go 4-1, including a 3-0 record at Medinah in 2012. Could the embattled 54-year-old be considered a vice-captain?

No, said Bradley.

“I still have a good relationship with Phil. “I don’t think he’s interested in being vice-captain,” said Bradley. “And to be honest with you, you are a captain one day, I think. But I haven’t spoken to Phil, I don’t want to speak for him at all, but I think he’s busy with what he’s doing.

“I have nothing but good things to say about Phil and our memories together, and what we did in the Ryder Cup are my fondest memories of the game.”

Nick Piastowski

Golf.com Editor

Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for planning, writing and promoting news on the golf course. And when he’s not writing about how to hit the golf ball forward and straight, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash down his scores. You can contact him about any of these topics – his news, his game or his beer – at nick.piastowski@golf.com.