Foursomes start gives Bradley option to pick himself; Foley at QSchool

US Ryder Cup skipper Keegan Bradley could yet pick himself to play at Bethpage Black after opting to begin with foursomes each day in New York next month.

The New Englander (39), who finished tied for seventh behind Tommy Fleetwood in the Tour Championship on Sunday, has the option to become the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963 as he’s more likely to play fourballs than foursomes.

Bradley admitted he was “exhausted” on Sunday after playing in the event and keeping  an eye on his potential wildcards but opinion is divided on what might be best for his team before he announces his six wildcards tomorrow.

“I think him being on the team makes the team better,” 2010 US captain Corey Pavin said. “So I would say, pick himself. It's doable. Certainly.  

“You know they're playing foursomes in the morning and fourballs in the afternoon, and he's a fourball guy, so he can do his captainly duties, if you want to call it that, in the morning, and then play in the afternoon on Friday and Saturday.”

Darren Clarke, who was a losing captain on US soil in 2016, has his doubts,

“Keegan has obviously played really well this year, and he should be playing on the team without question,” Clarke said recently.

“Now, whether he can do both for me, there's absolutely no way that I could have done both… So if it was me personally, I couldn't do it. But if Keegan thinks he can, then fair play to him.”

Scottie Scheffler, JJ Spaun, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, Harris English and Bryson DeChambeau qualified automatically for the US while on Sunday, Rasmus Højgaard joined Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Robert MacIntyre, Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose as one of the six automatic qualifiers for Europe.

Luke Donald will name his six wildcards live on Sky Sports and Ryder Cup Europe’s platforms worldwide at 2pm next Monday with Shane Lowry widely fancied to get the nod.

Rasmus joins his brother Nicolai and wildcard hopefuls such as Matt Fitzpatrick, Marco Penge, Matt Wallace and Aaron Rai at the Omega European Masters in Crans Montana.

Meanwhile, the First Stage of the DP World Tour Qualifying School gets underway this week with stage one events at Hulencourt in Belgium and the Players Club in Bristol.

Royal Dublin’s Hugh Foley is the lone Irishman in action in Bristol today.

Foley (28) has focussed on the Alps Tour this year and sits 25th in the Order of Merit with three top 10s from 14 starts.