Rory McIlroy isn’t a fan of the notion that United States captain Keegan Bradley could select himself for his 12-member Ryder Cup team.
That’s nothing against Bradley as a competitor, McIlroy contends. It’s just that it’s quite the commitment.
After all, Arnold Palmer was the last playing captain in the biennial contest — and that was in 1963.
Given that Bradley suggested he may attempt to follow that path next month at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, N.Y., McIlroy was asked about that very topic on Wednesday heading into week’s BMW Championship at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md.
“I just think the commitments that a captain has the week of — you think about the extra media that a captain has to do, you think about the extra meetings that the captains have to do with the vice captains, with the PGA of America, in Keegan’s case, preparing your speech for the opening ceremony — just there’s a lot of things that people don’t see that the captain does the week of the Ryder Cup, especially now that the Ryder Cup has become so big,” McIlroy said. ”
“If you’d have said it 20 years ago, I’d say, yeah, it was probably possible to do, but how big of a spectacle and everything that’s on the line in a Ryder Cup now, I just think it would be a very difficult position to be in.
“So I just think for those reasons. Then the captain isn’t going to be on the course all day, so really the captain’s only going to be able to play one session on Friday, one session on Saturday. Would you rather not have a player that has the flexibility to go twice if he’s playing well? There’s a lot of different things that go into it. … Look, it’s just my opinion, but I think it would just be very difficult to do.”
McIlroy, the world’s second-ranked player, will be making his eighth appearance for the European team. With all of that Ryder Cup experience, what would he look for in a pick should he serve as a captain one day?
“Meshing. You have to be able to blend in with the rest of the team well. Maybe you already have a partner in mind that you could play with for foursomes, and then maybe for the better ball also. I think that adaptability and that flexibility, having someone that can go five if they’re playing really well, if they’re playing well that week. That something, that someone that the rest of the guys are really comfortable with. You don’t want to have a fox in the henhouse.”
First things first for McIlroy, however.
The BMW Championship will mark McIlroy’s first tournament since he tied for seventh at the Open Championship, won by Scottie Scheffler. McIlroy skipped the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the playoff opener, with his spot in this week’s event already secure.
Scheffler and McIlroy, the top two players in the world, will be paired with each other for at least the first two rounds this week.
–Field Level Media
