Keegan Bradley 'Knows 90%' Of His Ryder Cup Pairings - What Could They Be?
Keegan Bradley says he knows 90% of his Ryder Cup pairings, and the groupings at the Procore Championship have given us some clues as to what they could be


Keegan Bradley believes in being prepared, as he says he has "90 percent" of his pairings already figured out for the upcoming Ryder Cup.
Bradley gathered 10 of his team to play at the Procore Championship in what he sees as a crucial warm-up event to work on his players getting comfortable with each other.
And with all 10 players being grouped together in the opening two rounds in Napa, Bradley may have given us some clues about what he's thinking on possible Ryder Cup pairings.
It would make sense given Bradley says that he's all-but got his pairings sorted for Bethpage Black - especially his potential foursomes duos.
"We're 90 percent I'd say," Bradley answered when asked how his line-up was coming along for the Ryder Cup.
"One of our goals was to have the guys prepared, ready to know who they're playing with.
"Especially in alternate shot, I think that's more important. I think best ball you can have a little more leeway there, but we're pretty set here with what we're going to do."
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Foursomes will start the first two days of the Ryder Cup and has been crucial in recent tournaments - with the alternate shot format always the hardest one to play.
"I think foursomes is obviously the tougher format to pair because there's so many more factors," said Bradley. "There's the golf ball. You really want to match up the personalities with foursomes because it is a way tougher format.
"I think when you're on the road, it's much more comforting to have a best ball partner. So when you're on the road and you're standing on that first tee by yourself in that alternate shot's much tougher so I think that would be the reason.
"It's also easier to play better at home seems like over the last 30 years. But foursomes is - we have some history in some of the pairings."
What could Bradley's foursomes pairings be?
Player | Foursomes record | Partners |
---|---|---|
Thomas | 2-3 | Spieth |
Schauffele | 2-2 | Cantlay |
Cantlay | 2-2 | Schauffele |
Morikawa | 2-1 | Fowler, D. Johnson |
Scheffler | 0-2 | Burns, Koepka |
DeChambeau | 0-2 | Mickelson, Woods |
Burns | 0-1 | Scheffler |
He's a stat that will worry Bradley - he only has four players on his team that have ever won a Ryder Cup point in foursomes and only one with a winning record - that being Collin Morikawa.
Bradley has four rookies in his side and two further players with just one appearance so has limited foursomes form to go on.
Fourballs can usually take care of themselves with players using their own ball as it's much easier to select pairings with chemistry and type of game not as crucial.
So the focus will be on the foursomes, with Bradley having just two pairs that have played before - with a no-brainer duo of Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele nailed on to resume their partnership.
The good friends have only ever played foursomes with each other, winning both matches at Whistling Straits and losing both in Rome to now sit on a 2-2 record.
Scottie Scheffler played with Sam Burns in Rome but they lost, so the World No.1 holds a winless 0-2 foursomes record now in his two Ryder Cups.
Bryson DeChambeau is also 0-2 in foursomes while Justin Thomas is the third player to have won a foursomes match with his 2-3 record - but he'll need a new partner as he played all five of those alongside Jordan Spieth.
Procore tee times hint at Ryder Cup pairings?
Groups at the Procore Championship
- Scottie Scheffler, Russell Henley, JJ Spaun
- Collin Morikawa, Harris English
- Patrick Cantlay, Sam Burns
- Justin Thomas, Ben Griffin, Cameron Young
The groups at the Procore Championship, organized by Bradley, could also give a clue to new partnerships for Bethpage Black.
Burns is an obvious option to play with Scheffler, but Russell Henley played in both foursomes sessions with the World No.1 at last year's Presidents Cup, while rookie JJ Spaun would seem to have the game to compliment him.
Spaun's spoken of getting comfortable playing alongside Scheffler in Napa, so being paired with him seems like no accident.
Thomas is the most experienced player in the team and being paired with rookies Ben Griffin and Cameron Young makes sense as he could assume the role of leading the newbies into foursomes battle.
Cantlay and Burns also played together at the Presidents Cup and could be an alternative to Cantlay/Schauffele, while Burns teamed up with Morikawa at the last Ryder Cup in fourballs but they aren't grouped together in Napa.
So maybe Bradley has identified Morikawa and Harris English as two players with games to suit a foursomes pairing.
It doesn't necessarily mean these players will be paired together at Bethpage, but they're together at Napa for a reason.

Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website. Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush.
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