Graeme McDowell believes Keegan Bradley will play in September’s Ryder Cup but that it would be impossible for him to combine a playing and captaincy role for the USA in Bethpage Black.
It has been reported that Europe have agreed to Bradley’s wish for a rule change which means should the American play in the Ryder Cup he could designate captaincy duties to one of his vice-captains while on course.
McDowell knows better than most what it takes to win a Ryder Cup, a legend of four contests, while his two vice captaincy stints in 2018 and 2021 gave him a deeper insight into what level of preparation is required. Something he doesn’t think Bradley could commit to as a playing captain.
“I don’t think it’s possible at all. I think Keegan will play and it’s impossible to do both,” McDowell told Irish Golfer at LIV Golf UK.
“[Pádraig] Harrington would know. He was a fantastic captain, the camaraderie in the team room was exceptional. I’m not a big believer in the captain being the be all and end all. It’s about the twelve players and about the camaraderie and about holing putts.”
McDowell won three Ryder Cups during a decorated career with Europe and he still harbours aspirations of captaining the continent in his career with Adare Manor in 2027 his dream scenario.
One player who could potentially join McIlroy and co in two years is Tom McKibbin. McDowell is tipping his compatriot for major championship glory, but he acknowledges that the 22-year-old’s pathway into the majors will be difficult unless LIV’s latest application for Official World Golf Ranking points is accepted.
“Tom is a great player. Tom is going to do well with a guy like Jon Rahm next to him. He will learn a lot from him. That will accelerate his learning and experience and turn him into a major champion quicker than perhaps he would have been.
“Tom’s ceiling is incredibly high but the pathways to the majors are very difficult from this tour, unfairly so perhaps. We are working on figuring that out. We knew that would potentially be the case, maybe we didn’t realise how long and deep the problem would be but you have to look at the players on this tour.
“I saw Lee Westwood’s comments on the OWGR, it’s in a bad spot. There’s 25 to 30 players on this tour who directly impact the top 100-150 players in the world rankings and without them being ranked correctly it makes the OWGR look like a circus.”
As for his own game, G Mac is still bullish about his chances of breaking into the winners circle for the first time since 2020 and he has enjoyed a solid season on LIV Golf which included a career best finish of 2nd in Virginia where he was ambushed by a late Joaquin Niemann surge.
Near misses at US Open and Open qualifying undoubtedly stung but he feels his move to Brooks Koepka’s Smash GC last year has given him a new lease of life. Despite a successful punditry debut on Sky Sports at the Open last week, he isn’t ready to trade a five iron for a microphone.
“I feel like my game has been moving in the right direction for about twelve months,” said the 45-year-old. “Getting onto Smash GC at the start of 2024 was a big move for me. Brooks puts that pressure on just by who he is and the type of player he is and you know you’re going out every week with a chance to be on a great team.
“That has motivated me and I feel like I have worked hard over the last eighteen months and the game has been continuing to move in the right direction. Second in LIV Virginia was nice because I have generally been disappointed with my performance on LIV Golf and I have greater expectations for myself.
“I think when I stop believing that I can win I will hang the clubs up and do something else. Virginia gave me that chance to be in the last group and Joaquin Niemann birdies four of the last five holes, not much I can do about it, but I felt like I conducted myself well and getting back to that environment with the old feels coming back, I still believe I can win at any level of the game.
“I think you have to have that belief as a sportsman, I’m not out here to finish tenth every week although finishing tenth in this field every week would be steady enough, Jon Rahm has made a good couple of years out of that.”
McDowell has been part of LIV Golf since its inception and has seen the Saudi backed tour transition from recruiting experienced names to superstar players to young guns for the future and he has been impressed by new CEO Scott O’Neill who replaced Greg Norman in January.
The Portrush native feels LIV’s shift to recruiting young talent like McKibbin is a clear indication of the tour’s potential longevity and is predicting a big off-season for the tour with recruitment and OWGR the two main pillars.
“The narrative from within, what we are doing within LIV, you have to block out the noise from around the world. The first couple of seasons were very difficult from that point of view but we focused on the noise from within. The people who created LIV are extremely motivated and it’s not going anywhere.
“Recruitment is really important. It’s great to see players like Tom McKibbin and Caleb Surratt coming in the last couple of seasons.
“Momentum is strong on LIV and this is a big off-season for us in terms of recruitment. OWGR is really important for this tour so we will keep chipping away. I enjoy what I am doing and where I play my golf and remaining competitive is really important to me.”
McDowell’s legend is etched in Royal Portrush, having grown up in Portrush town. The 2010 US Open champion had the 7th hole on the Valley course named after him to celebrate his achievements in golf.
He made the cut on his homecoming return in 2019 when the Open came to the Dunluce Links but he was gutted to have missed out on another stint in front of home fans last week. He got the next best thing with a commentary gig on Sky Sports where he impressed.
Portrush turned into Rory mania over the weekend and McDowell and McIlroy shared a nice smile and a wink as the latter walked down the first fairway on Sunday.
“I would have enjoyed playing more!” laughed McDowell who might pick up the mic again in Bethpage Black.
“Commentary was a different perspective, a little less pressure in there. We did a couple of pieces with Sky watching Rory tee off was super cool. What Rory means to Irish golf, he is a legend in the game. It’s cool to have watched him on the journey in his early days, in Ryder Cups, I called him a friend then and a friend now.
“I’m proud of what he has achieved and it was cool to be in Portrush to feel the celebratory mood of the crowd.
“I’m going to have a chat with Sky, we will see about Bethpage. I only want to dip my toe in for the moment. I want to kick that can down the road as far as I can kick it because I want to be out here playing. I don’t want to trade the five iron in for a mic.”
McDowell gets his LIV UK campaign underway at JCB Golf and Country Club when tees off the tenth tee alongside Branden Grace and Matt Jones at 1.05pm.
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