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A rebuttal: Captain Bradley should get 2 more years, if he likes

Published

7 months ago

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I’ve written in other pieces that Kaptain Keegan should get two more years if he wants them. Not all captains of Ryder Cup sides care as much, nor have their finger on the pulse, as much as Mr. Bradley. Take Tom Watson, for example. Loved him as a player, but his ironfisted “back in my day” way of (cough) reaching his players just didn’t work. Keegan Bradley is in the mix each week on tour, so he knows the tournament game’s nuances, and he sees the players strengthen and wilt as the events evolve. No finer option exists.

It’s with not just a bit of irony and frustration that I read what professional colleagues have written about Mr. Bradley and his decisions. I take issue with much of what they have written. It’s as if they and I were not watching the same event. One of us is wrong, and I don’t believe that it is me. For example, the talented Rex Hoggard, over at NBC Sports, wrote an eloquent but inaccurate piece on whether KB should get 2027 in Ireland. Umbrage is not all that I took away from his piece, so I decided to write a rebuttal.

Mr. Hoggard, et al.

I read with great dissatisfaction your finely-worded but inaccurately-conceived piece on whether Mr. Keegan Bradley should have a chance to, ahem, run it back in Ireland in 2027. I would like to offer this rebuttal, and I hope that you accept it as the dissonant thoughts of a colleague.

To begin, anyone with the lineup that Luke Donald was given would have won this week. I suspect that Mr. Donald, while quite intelligent and a Northwestern U. alumnus, simply listened to his veteran team and put them where they wanted to be. Mr. Donald did not hit a single shot for the players. The brilliant tacticians, therefore, are the dozen players who made up the European side. They made the decisions, and they hit the shots.

Next, you allude to the lack of a U.S. Open or links-style setup as a cause for Side USA’s distress. May I remind you that while J.J. Spaun had success one week of his life at Oakmont, he did not have success many other weeks, on similar setups? May I remind you that Bryson DeChambeau did the same at Winged Foot and Pinehurst the Second, but struggled many other weeks? Course setup was the same for each side. The European side simply hit better shots more frequently. They would have done the same on any course, any place, this week.

In the words of Natalie Merchant, let’s talk about the weather. If the rough had been up and the rains had come, the rough would then have been unmanageable. The greens would still have been soft. Why would you risk bringing the greens to a firmness that puts them in danger of dying? Ask any superintendent, and they will tell you that Bethpage did it right this week. Did soft greens make Team USA miss putts? No. Did soft greens make Team USA hit shots farther away from the hole? No. No one can predict the weather, and no one can predict the impact of the weather. To suggest that it is the captain’s fault is to spread incorrect information and incite the nay-sayers and Monday-morning captains.

It is my pleasure to agree with you on the topic of going to the well again, a.k.a. rinse and repeat. The Scheffler/Henley foursomes pairing was first, bad, and next, snakebitten. On day one, the boys in blue made seven birdies in the fifteen holes of the match. the lads in red made just three, and they also made at least two bogies (not all holes were completed.) On day two, Scheffler/Henry made six birdies and lost to the eight birdies of the Euros. No idea why English and Morikawa were ever paired together. On day one in foursomes, the duo made one solitary birdie. On day two in the same format, the pair made five birdies, yet still lost, by 3 & 2.

From my perspective, the one player that should have featured in all five matches was the one fellow who won three points for the red, white, and blue. I wrote a piece prior to the matches about Cameron Young. It was clear from every vantage point that he was the guy with the most course knowledge, and Keegan Bradley knew this. If Bradley went against his intuition on any point, it was starting Cameron Young in morning foursomes on Friday. Imagine that he partnered with anyone and that they won their match. The score would have been 2-2 (very likely), and it would have been a different afternoon and weekend.

I take issue with “the envelope rule.” If a player has a recurring injury and it flares up during Ryder Cup week, that’s on the Captain and the team, and no half point is given to the injured player’s team. Hovland knew that he was hurt. Team Europe knew that he was hurt. Zero points, Viktor. If an accident occurs and a new injury happens, that’s unfortunate and fate, and the match is halved. That’s what happened in 1991 with Steve Pate.

I remain, respectfully yours,

R. Mont

I feel so much better now. Thank you for reading, and for enjoying/despising my words. I can’t wait for PrezCup 2026, and I can’t wait doubly for Ryder Cup 2027. The same goes for the Solheim, Curtis, and Walker Cups to come.

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Ronald Montesano writes for GolfWRX.com from western New York. He dabbles in coaching golf and teaching Spanish, in addition to scribbling columns on all aspects of golf, from apparel to architecture, from equipment to travel. Follow Ronald on Twitter at @buffalogolfer.

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. P

    Sep 30, 2025 at 4:02 pm

    Luke was not GIVEN this line up, he PICKED half the players just like on the USA side

    Reply Report comment

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News

2026 PGA Championship betting odds

Published

1 day ago

on

May 12, 2026

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Scottie Scheffler leads the betting ahead of the second major championship of the year, with the World Number One a +345 favorite to get his hands on a second PGA Championship.

Rory McIlroy who won the Masters back in April is a +800 shot to complete half of the calendar slam at Aronimink Golf Club this week, while Jordan Spieth can be backed at +5900 to become a career grand slam winner.

Here is the full betting board for the 2026 PGA Championship courtesy of DraftKings.

Scottie Scheffler +345 – (Check 0ut his WITB here)

Rory McIlroy +800 – (Check out his WITB here)

  • Jon Rahm +1300 
  • Cameron Young +1500
  • Bryson DeChambeau +1700
  • Xander Schauffele +1850
  • Matt Fitzpatrick +1950
  • Ludvig Aberg +2000
  • Tommy Fleetwood +2600
  • Collin Morikawa +3500
  • Brooks Koepka +3900
  • Justin Rose +4300
  • Russell Henley +4600
  • Si Woo Kim +4700
  • Justin Thomas +4800
  • Robert MacIntyre +5300
  • Patrick Cantlay +5300
  • Viktor Hovland +5400
  • Tyrrell Hatton +5500
  • Jordan Spieth +5900
  • Sam Burns +6000
  • Hideki Matsuyama +6200
  • Adam Scott +6400
  • Rickie Fowler +7000
  • Chris Gotterup +7400
  • Patrick Reed +7400
  • Min Woo Lee +7800
  • Ben Griffin +8000
  • Sepp Straka +8400
  • Shane Lowry +9000
  • Akshay Bhatia +9200
  • Maverick McNealy +9200
  • Joaquin Niemann +9200
  • Jake Knapp +9200
  • Jason Day +9600
  • Kurt Kitayama +10000
  • J.J. Spaun +10000
  • Harris English +10500
  • Nicolai Hojgaard +11000
  • Gary Woodland +11000
  • David Puig +11000
  • Michael Thorbjornsen +12000
  • Jacob Bridgeman +12000
  • Keegan Bradley +12500
  • Corey Conners +14000
  • Alex Fitzpatrick +15000
  • Sungjae Im +15500
  • Sahith Theegala +15500
  • Harry Hall +15500
  • Alex Noren +16000
  • Thomas Detry +16500
  • Marco Penge +16500
  • Kristoffer Reitan +17000
  • Alex Smalley +17000
  • Wyndham Clark +17500
  • Sam Stevens +17500
  • Keith Mitchell +17500
  • Daniel Berger +18500
  • Ryan Gerard +20000
  • Nick Taylor +20000
  • Rasmus Hojgaard +21000
  • Dustin Johnson +21000
  • Pierceson Coody +23000
  • Aaron Rai +24000
  • Jordan Smith +24000
  • Angel Ayora +24000
  • Bud Cauley +25000
  • Matt McCarty +26000
  • Jayden Schaper +26000
  • Brian Harman +27000
  • Taylor Pendrith +27000
  • Ryan Fox +27000
  • J.T. Poston +27000
  • Cameron Smith +29000
  • Ryo Hisatsune +29000
  • Michael Kim +29000
  • Max Homa +29000
  • Denny McCarthy +29000
  • Tom McKibbin +30000
  • Rico Hoey +32000
  • Matt Wallace +32500
  • Ricky Castillo +33000
  • Haotong Li +33000
  • Michael Brennan +34000
  • Max Greyserman +36000
  • Stephan Jaeger +37500
  • Christiaan Bezuidenhout +37500
  • Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen +39000
  • Aldrich Potgieter +40000
  • Andrew Novak +42000
  • Patrick Rodgers +42500
  • Daniel Hillier +42500
  • Max McGreevy +46000
  • Billy Horschel +48000
  • Chris Kirk +48000
  • Ian Holt +49000
  • Casey Jarvis +49000
  • William Mouw +50000
  • Steven Fisk +50000
  • John Parry +50000
  • Nico Echavarria +52500
  • Garrick Higgo +52500
  • John Keefer+55000
  • Matthias Schmid +57500
  • Austin Smotherman +57500
  • Sami Valimaki +60000
  • Andrew Putnam +60000
  • Lucas Glover +62500
  • Daniel Brown +62500
  • Jhonattan Vegas +75000
  • Emiliano Grillo +80000
  • Mikael Lindberg +85000
  • Adrien Saddier +100000
  • Bernd Wiesberger +100000
  • Elvis Smylie +110000
  • Stewart Cink +130000
  • Kota Kaneko +130000
  • David Lipsky +150000
  • Chandler Blanchet +150000
  • Andy Sullivan +150000
  • Joe Highsmith +180000
  • Adam Schenk +200000
  • Travis Smyth +200000
  • Davis Riley +225000
  • Martin Kaymer +400000
  • Brian Campbell +400000
  • Padraig Harrington +450000
  • Kazuki Higa +450000
  • Jordan Gumberg +450000
  • Ryan Vermeer +500000
  • Austin Hurt +500000
  • Tyler Collet +500000
  • Timothy Wiseman +500000
  • Shaun Micheel +500000
  • Y.E. Yang +500000
  • Michael Block+500000
  • Mark Geddes+500000
  • Luke Donald+500000
  • Bryce Fisher+500000
  • Jimmy Walker +500000
  • Jason Dufner +500000
  • Jesse Droemer +500000
  • Jared Jones +500000
  • Garrett Sapp +500000
  • Francisco Bide +500000
  • Zach Haynes +500000
  • Paul McClure+500000
  • Derek Berg +500000
  • Chris Gabriele +500000
  • Braden Shattuck +500000
  • Ben Polland +500000
  • Ben Kern +50000

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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2026 PGA Championship

Published

2 days ago

on

May 11, 2026

By

GolfWRX is on site for the second major of 2026: The PGA Championship from Aronimink in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

The tournament’s location, just outside Philadelphia, and its status as a major championship mean GolfWRXers are in for a treat: WITBs from a strong field, custom gear celebrating the PGA Championship, and the rich culture of the City of Brotherly Love — we have noted a relative absence of cheesesteak-themed items thus far this week, but most of the rest of the usual suspects are well represented.

Check out links to all our photos below.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

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News

How much each player won at the 2026 Truist Championship

Published

2 days ago

on

May 11, 2026

By

Kristoffer Reitan held his nerve at Quail Hollow on Sunday to claim his first PGA Tour victory and the $3.6 million winner’s check that came with it. The Norwegian fended off a packed leaderboard on a dramatic final day, with Rickie Fowler and Nicolai Højgaard both taking home $1.76 million for their runner-up finishes.

With a total prize purse of $20 million up for grabs, here’s a look at how much each player won at the 2026 Truist Championship.

1: Kristoffer Reitan, $3,600,000

T2: Rickie Fowler, $1,760,000

T2: Nicolai Hojgaard, -$1,760,000

4: Alex Fitzpatrick, $960,000

T5: Tommy Fleetwood, $730,000

T5: Sungjae Im, $730,000

T5: J.J. Spaun, $730,000

T8: Ludvig Aberg, $600,000

T8: Harry Hall, $600,000

T10: Patrick Cantlay, $500,000

T10: Matt McCarty, $500,000

T10: Cameron Young, $500,000

13: Justin Thomas, $420,000

T14: Min Woo Lee, $360,000

T14: Chris Gotterup, $360,000

T14: Nick Taylor, $360,000

T17: Alex Smalley, $310,000

T17: Gary Woodland, $310,000

T19: Austin Smotherman, $242,100

T19: Rory McIlroy, $242,100

T19: Keegan Bradley, $242,100

T19: Sudarshan Yellamaraju, $242,100

T19: Kurt Kitayama, $242,100

T24: Patrick Rodgers, $156,643

T24: Pierceson Coody, $156,643

T24: Adam Scott, $156,643

T24: Andrew Novak, $156,643

T24: Harris English, $156,643

T24: J.T. Poston, $156,643

T24: David Lipsky, $156,643

T31: Brian Harman, $114,416.67

T31: Viktor Hovland, $114,416.67

T31: Alex Noren, $114,416.67

T31: Tony Finau, $114,416.67

T31: Nico Echavarria, $114,416.67

T31: Corey Conners, $114,416.67

T37: Sam Burns, $82,187.50

T37: Maverick McNealy, $82,187.50

T37: Akshay Bhatia, $82,187.50

T37: Taylor Pendrith, $82,187.50

T37: Matt Wallace, $82,187.50

T37: Andrew Putnam, $82,187.50

T37: Bud Cauley, $82,187.50

T37: Lucas Glover, $82,187.50

T45: Justin Rose, $60,000

T45: Daniel Berger, $60,000

T45: Ryo Hisatsune, $60,000

T48: Denny McCarthy, $50,000

T48: Aldrich Potgieter, $50,000

T48: Webb Simpson, $50,000

T48: Michael Kim, $50,000

T52: Mackenzie Hughes, $45,187.50

T52: Max Homa, $45,187.50

T52: Brian Campbell, $45,187.50

T52: Jhonattan Vegas, $45,187.50

T52: Matt Fitzpatrick, $45,187.50

T52: Chandler Blanchet, $45,187.50

T52: Jordan Spieth, $45,187.50

T52: Jacob Bridgeman, $45,187.50

T60: Xander Schauffele, $42,500

T60: Robert MacIntyre, $42,500

T60: Ricky Castillo, $42,500

T63: Ben Griffin, $41,250

T63: Sepp Straka, $41,250

T65: Ryan Gerard, $40,250

T65: Si Woo Kim, $40,250

67: Ryan Fox, $39,500

68: Jason Day, $39,000

69: Sahith Theegala, $38,000

70: Sam Stevens, $37,500

71: Hideki Matsuyama, $37,000

72: Tom Hoge, $36,000

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