“I was chosen to do this job, to do it maybe a little differently as well,” Keegan Bradley said recently. There is a saying that is as true in golf as it is in life: it’s never too late to do the right thing. Bradley has taken that to heart in his short but already memorable tenure as US Ryder Cup captain. Every single move of his suggests that he’s a man who’s intent on fixing the mistakes of the past. Some that involved him, and others that scarred American Ryder Cup history. The latest example of this came with the way Bradley handled the dreaded “bad news” calls.

For decades, the sting of being left off a Ryder Cup roster has been one of the game’s coldest truths. Bradley knows that feeling too well. NBC’s Brad Faxon, who will be in the booth next week analysing the game, revealed that Captain America had a system in place to avoid the kind of public humiliation he himself went through two years ago. Instead of dragging players through a long drawn wait, Bradley strategically structured his calls. Sunday conversations carried the bad news, and Monday was reserved for the ultimate “you’re in!” call. His aim was simple. He did not want any player to suffer through the public rejection that he went through two years ago.

Back in 2023, Keegan Bradley had to live through what can arguably be the most awkward scenario. The night before the incident, then US captain Zach Johnson had told everyone that he would be calling in the morning to reveal his picks. The next day, moments before Bradley received a call from Johnson, he found out that the Netflix crew for Full Swing would be reaching his place in a while. Like anyone, Bradley thought it to be a good sign.

“I get a call from Netflix, and they say, ‘We got a camera crew five minutes from your house’. Why would they be sending a camera crew if I’m not going to be picked? It was the first time I let my brain think I did it,” Bradley once shared on a podcast. Anyway, he received the call from Johnson, which was captured on camera and is still out there on Full Swing.’His heartbreak got turned into global content. Faxon clears it perfectly. “I think that was a big effect on Keegan, that he didn’t want that to ever happen to anyone else.” 

So this time, Bradley refused to let history repeat itself.

Maverick McNealy, ranked no. 10, got his bad news on Sunday. Without any cameras or a public spectacle, Bradley broke the news over a call, which he said was “very, very difficult”. Then he bypassed himself (he was ranked 11th) to take Cameron Young, Patrick Cantlay, and Sam Burns in the team. These videos did make it to social media as a feel-good moment.

It’s just one of the ways Bradley has worked to right past wrongs. Another came a few weeks back when he reached out to

Larry Nelson, a three-time Ryder Cupper and one of the greatest American performers the event has ever seen. Nelson, who is 77 now, owns a staggering 9-1-3 Ryder Cup record, but interestingly was never chosen to captain a team. He was snubbed in 1995 and 1997, with Lanny Wadkins getting the reins of the team. A probable reason he hasn’t attended the event since 1987. But Bradley fixed this, too.

He surprised him by inviting him to Bethpage Black as a team ambassador and to sit alongside past US captains. For Nelson, who once admitted that being passed over for the captaincy was a quiet regret, the gesture was overdue recognition.

“It was really special to me,” he said. A veteran who fought in Vietnam, who started playing golf after turning 21, only to go ahead and win three majors, will finally be back in the room again, welcomed back. All thanks to Keegan Bradley. “I can’t tell you how touched I am that Keegan took the time to personally invite me.“

Bradley’s sensitivity here isn’t an accident. He knows what it feels like to be left out and carry the string of rejection even after a decent performance. He won two tournaments in 2023, including the Travelers Championship, and finished second at the Farmers Insurance Open and was top-10 in 6 of the 24 events played.

These are probably the reasons he has leaned into selflessness since taking on the captaincy. He skipped the chance to insert himself as a playing member. It has been his dream to play in the event, and it

“broke” his heart not to select himself. Then there were countless people, including Donald Trump, who urged him to be on the 12-member squad. He stayed out of the Procore Championship, choosing instead to assess his boys while they were in action, a move which might land him in some trouble. “He has handled one of the toughest responsibilities in golf with professionalism and enthusiasm, and I’ll be rooting hard for his team,” McNealy said recently.

Bethpage Black will be loud, brash, and unforgiving in September. But one thing is clear: the captain has already won over plenty of people before a single ball is struck. Although no matter how much right he does, there will always be certain criticism.

The Patrick Reed snub

Keegan Bradley has been facing some heat for leaving Patrick Reed off his Ryder Cup roster. Reed’s Ryder Cup record has been impressive (7-3-2), and is highlighted by a fiery win over Rory McIlroy in the unforgettable duel in Hazeltine back in 2016. His recent form hasn’t been spectacular, but he did manage to flip the narrative at the BMW PGA Championship with a T3 finish on the back of rounds of 69-68-69-66. He outplayed every European Ryder Cup representative in the field and racked up more than 20 birdies! So, it’s obvious that critics might question Bradley’s decision.

With Bryson DeChambeau as the lone LIV golfer making the cut, Keegan Bradley’s omission of Reed feels glaring to many. Supporters are pointing to Luke Donald’s call to bring Alex Noren as a vice-captain after his big win at Wentworth, and they want Bradley to follow suit. The question now is whether the US captain will stick firmly to his own blueprint or respond to outside pressure by finding Reed a role within the setup, even if it’s not as a player.