Add Tom Watson to the list of former Ryder Cup captains who believe the dual role of player and captain is just too much for one person to shoulder.
Keegan Bradley seems all but set to name himself the first player-captain for an American Ryder Cup team since Arnold Palmer did so in 1963.
The possible decision has drawn concern from some and been endorsed by others, including President Donald Trump, who will appear at the Ryder Cup next month, taking place on Long Island.
But Watson, a former U.S. Ryder Cup captain, simply put it to The Times: “You can’t be both.”
“I could not have been a player-captain and the reason very simply is the scheduling, because the captain has to have his pairings in for the afternoon matches by 11 a.m.,” Watson continued.
“The last two morning matches are going on for sure and you want to have the latitude to say this player is not playing well. For instance, in 1993, Paul Azinger got blown out in his first match and I thought, ‘I’m going to sit Paul and let him recoup.’ I had to make that decision, and if I was playing in a match, what a huge distraction that would have been. You can’t do it. You can’t be both.”
Watson served as the Ryder Cup captain for the American team in 2014, and his captaincy was not without its share of controversies, which included a feeling that he was out of touch with PGA Tour players.
It would be hard to argue that Bradley isn’t one of the top 12 best American golfers after he’s won two PGA Tour events over the last two years.
Bradley will make his picks for the Ryder Cup team on Wednesday in a live event airing on Golf Channel and streaming on the Ryder Cup’s YouTube channel at 11 a.m. ET.
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