NORTH BERWICK, Scotland – During Tuesday’s press conference to introduce Keegan Bradley as next year’s U.S. Ryder Cup captain, PGA of America President John Lindert described a streamlined and relatively quick selection process.
“Came to a pretty quick decision,” Lindert said before calling Bradley a “slam dunk” candidate from an unspecified list of potential captains.
One of the names thought to be on that list was Stewart Cink, a five-time Ryder Cup player and a vice captain at last year’s matches for Zach Johnson in Rome.
“I’m disappointed that I wasn’t chosen to be the captain, of course. I was really hoping to be in that role,” Cink said Tuesday at the Genesis Scottish Open. “I love the United States and I love the players. I have so much respect for the players and the Ryder Cup, and Keegan has great energy and he’s playing great. He’ll do a really good job. I know he wants a team win and his roots being there in New England, he’ll be a great captain.”
Bradley said during Tuesday’s press conference in New York City that he didn’t speak with anyone from the PGA of America about being a potential captain until he received a phone call from Lindert, Johnson and PGA CEO Seth Waugh on June 30 to inform him he’d been chosen to lead next year’s team.
Despite his disappointment of not being picked to captain the U.S. team at Bethpage Black, Cink acknowledged Bradley’s credentials and the PGA’s pivot to a younger captain.
“The fact that Keegan’s never been any kind of assistant role or anything, he played on some teams and played some great golf and he won a PGA Championship, those count, a lot,” Cink said. “Younger, for sure. Maybe closer in age range to players who are going to be on the team could be a factor. Maybe they looking to change some things.”
