Il Messaggiere - US Ryder Cup captain Bradley eyes LIV's Koepka, DeChambeau

Reigning US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau and five-time major winner Brooks Koepka of LIV Golf were among those invited to a gathering last week of potential US Ryder Cup players, Bradley said Tuesday at the PGA Championship.

Nearly two years after a framework agreement for LIV's backers, the Saudi Public Investment Fund, to invest in the PGA Tour, no deal has been made and stars from rival tours only meet in majors such as this week's event at Quail Hollow.

Bradley, however, sees room for LIV talent on the US Ryder Cup team. Koepka has played four times and was the only LIV player on the 2023 US squad that lost to Europe in Italy as a captain's pick.

DeChambeau has played twice, most recently in 2021, a year after winning his first major at the US Open.

"We invited Brooks and Bryson and they were in there on points and they played on previous teams. It was great to have them there," Bradley said.

"This Ryder Cup and what comes with this, no one cares about what's going on in this side PGA Tour-LIV. We're trying to put the best team together.

"It could mean there's one LIV guy, two LIV guys, it doesn't matter. We'll see how this year shakes out. It was really great to have them together with all the guys. It has been a while since we've been able to do that."

Bradley won't see LIV events as much being a PGA player, so watching the 15 LIV players in this week's field of 156 is important.

"These guys are playing in all four of the majors, so we'll have that. A lot of them are up in these leaderboards every major," Bradley said.

"We'll see how the year shapes out. The data is a little less at LIV. We don't have quite the same stats that we have out here, but we have some. We know winning and contending on any tour at any level is difficult. I don't care where you play.

"Winning on the LIV is difficult. You can see guys -- winning a LIV event is a big deal."

Winning the biennial team matches is huge as well as this year's contest at Bethpage Black near New York looms.

Holders Europe have not won on US soil since the 2012 "Miracle at Medinah" in suburban Chicago.

The United States leads the all-time rivalry 27-15 with two drawn but since the British and Irish side expanded to all of Europe in 1979, Europe is 12-9 with one drawn.

- 'Majors separate guys' -

Current US Ryder Cup qualifying points leaders include top-ranked Scottie Scheffler and fellow two-time major winners Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa and LIV's DeChambeau with Russell Henley holding the sixth and final automatic points berth.

The top six after the BMW Championship on August 17 will qualify with Bradley's six captain's picks after the Tour Championship fill out the 12-man US roster.

"We have to see how the team takes shape in the next couple months, but we'll definitely be using analytics to help us make the picks, along with obviously the eye test of who we think is going to be suited for Bethpage," Bradley said.

"When you get down to it, they're always really tough decisions, so the more information you can get helps you with those."

Bradley will be looking intently at candidates this week under major tournament pressure.

"I think these majors kind of separate guys," Bradley said. "You see a guy hang in there on Sunday, that's an impressive thing, especially around a course like this."

Bradley doesn't see himself as a candidate to play.

"I don't even think about me as a player at this point," Bradley said. "If I get to the end of the year and I'm in that conversation, I'll change that."

R.Abate--IM