Now that the major championship season is complete and before the FedEx Cup playoffs and the Ryder Cup, a few subjects continue to percolate.
The question of whether or not Keegan Bradley will be a playing captain on the American Ryder Cup team will churn until there is an answer.
Let’s say Bradley decides to play, which seems likely at this moment. How might that work?
Here’s how Paul Azinger, whose victorious Ryder Cup captaincy in 2008 helped establish the American model, sees it:
“I think he can do both. I hope he plays,” Azinger said via text.
“Keegan needs help though. He has to rely on his assistants and the PGA of America to make his job easier.
“He can set Day One pairings and have a Day Two plan. It’s not far-fetched. He should play (the) second match out Day One. Skip the afternoon. Same plan for Day Two. Adjust as needed.
“He can play once or twice before singles. His choice. Keegan could get three points.”
What Bradley needs right now is for a couple of players to force their way onto his team. The top seven seem set – Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, J.J. Spaun, Russell Henley, Bryson DeChambeau, Harris English and Justin Thomas – and Collin Morikawa is probably the eighth despite a flat summer.
That leaves four spots and probably a dozen contenders, Bradley included. While the focus at the Wyndham Championship this week will be on securing spots within the FedEx Cup top 70 to make the playoffs and top 100 to retain playing privileges for next season, the next two tournaments – the FedEx St. Jude Championship and the BMW Championship – will have enormous Ryder Cup implications.
Speaking of the Ryder Cup, a report last week in The Telegraph said that after this year, LIV Golf will no longer pay DP World Tour fines accumulated by its players for participating in conflicting events, creating a potentially serious problem for the European team in 2027 at Adare Manor.
According to the report, LIV has paid approximately $20 million in fines for players whose participation in LIV tournaments violated the European circuit’s conflicting events policy.
LIV has paid fines for some players – including Sergio García, who rejoined the DP World Tour late last year to be eligible for Ryder Cup consideration – while Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton have refused to pay theirs and have appealed their cases. The hearing has been pushed until after the Ryder Cup, allowing both Hatton and Rahm to be eligible for the European team.
If Hatton and Rahm are denied at their hearing, they would have to pay their fines – believed to be seven figures – or they would not be eligible for the 2027 Ryder Cup. The decision will not affect the European Ryder Cup team this year.
When Scottie Scheffler was asked after winning the Open Championship about comparisons to Tiger Woods – someone figured out they both went 1,197 days between winning their first and fourth major championships – he properly brushed it aside, pointing out that he’s barely one-quarter of the way to Tiger’s major victory total.
"I have dreams and aspirations that I think about, but at the end of the day, when I wake up to practice, I feel like what motivates me is just getting out and getting to live out my dream.”
Scottie Scheffler
The comparisons are inevitable given Scheffler’s recent level of dominance but Woods and Jack Nicklaus remain in a different orbit than where Scheffler finds himself. It’s possible he gets close to them down the line but he’s made it clear that doesn’t drive him.
Scheffler is about the journey more than the destination. He doesn’t make a list of annual goals that he keeps in his phone. He’s not a checklist guy.
“I don't focus on that kind of stuff. That’s not what motivates me. I’m not motivated by winning championships. I don’t look at the beginning of the year and just say, hey, I want to win X amount of tournaments, I want to win whatever it is. I don’t do that. I have dreams and aspirations that I think about, but at the end of the day, when I wake up to practice, I feel like what motivates me is just getting out and getting to live out my dream,” Scheffler said at Royal Portrush.
“When I wake up in the morning, I try and put max effort in each day I get to go out and practice. When I’m working out, when I’m doing the cold tub, doing recovery, I feel like I’m just called to do it to the best of my ability. Outside of that, I don’t place much emphasis on winning tournaments. I don’t place much emphasis on things that I can accomplish.”
If there is a secret to Scheffler’s success, that may be it. That and his ability to manage his game, almost always playing the smart shot rather than the daring one.
Butch Harmon compared Scheffler to Nicklaus in that way in a radio interview last week while also making the point of letting this play out over time before drawing comparisons that Scheffler called “silly.”
Just how much better is Scheffler than his contemporaries?
As if his two 2025 major championship trophies weren’t evidence enough, Scheffler finished the four majors in a combined 32-under par this year, a whopping 21 strokes better than Rory McIlroy’s 11-under par total, which was second-best, with Xander Schauffele and Jon Rahm just behind.
Bryson DeChambeau also had a very strong major season despite not winning. He missed the cut at the U.S. Open at Oakmont, where his power was nullified by the dense rough, but otherwise he was T2 at the PGA Championship, T5 at the Masters and T10 at the Open Championship, validating Bradley to proclaim him a lock for the Ryder Cup team in September.
Patrick Cantlay flamed out in the majors, his T36 at the Masters shining compared to the three consecutive missed cuts that followed. Justin Thomas had two missed cuts and finished outside the top 30 in the two majors where he made the weekend.
Tommy Fleetwood never flashed in the majors, Jordan Spieth didn’t do much and the once-menacing Brooks Koepka missed three cuts in the majors.
A tip of the cap to Ian Baker-Finch, who will call his final tournament for CBS Sports at the Wyndham Championship this weekend.
Style and grace still matter and Baker-Finch is the embodiment of both. He was a wonderful player and has his name on the Claret Jug to prove it. His journey beyond his playing career has been similarly successful and his voice and insights have become part of the tapestry of the game.
Well played, Finchy.
E-MAIL RON
Top: Paul Azinger outlines a way U.S. captain Keegan Bradley could play successfully in the Ryder Cup.
BEN JARED, PGA TOUR VIA GETTY IMAGES