Xander Schauffele Has Some Sage Advice For Keegan Bradley On Ryder Cup Captaincy
The 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome was a disaster for the United States team. An atrocious opening performance set the tone for what would be a thoroughly dominant win for the European side. Yet again, an easy home win for the host team.
Unsurprisingly following that humiliation, despite an exceptionally talented team, the US team will have a brand new coach after Zach Johnson's performance was widely panned. Keegan Bradley, after being snubbed from the roster in 2023, is the new coach after a surprise announcement this week amid rumors that Tiger Woods wasn't interested.
Xander Schauffele was part of that US team that underperformed in Europe, and he has some advice for Bradley on how to fix things heading into the 2025 event at Bethpage Black.
Xander Schauffele has some advice for incoming US Ryder Cup Captain Keegan Bradley on how to improve the team for 2025 and the next European event. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Xander Schauffele Wants Fewer Team Dinners Around The Ryder Cup
Part of the Ryder Cup experience are the ancillary events surrounding the tournament. Photo opportunities, dinners, media events and the like. Schauffele, according to an NBC Sports report, believes that captains should cut down on that type of "knick-knacky stuff," in his words.
Schauffele seemed happy with the choice of Keegan Bradley, because he believes Bradley will understand how valuable the players' time is around the event.
"I feel like Keegan would understand sort of when we need to get up, when we need to practice, and when you need to do this and hopefully dodge anything you don’t have to do, and maybe that will help us," Schauffele said. When asked what types of things he'd like to "dodge," Schauffele said there are some "mandatory" things that could be skipped.
"Taking a bunch of photos all dressed up," Schauffele replied. "I would be the first guy that I need to flee quickly. It just seems like it’s all these little – even like team dinners or things of that nature, we can have them sort of quick and inside versus having to go out, dress up and all those things. It’s just small things. I think there’s two or three dinners that we have to go to that are kind of mandatory-ish, and I think if we cut it down to one or two versus three that would be a really big deal."
These answers seem to track with reports around the 2023 Ryder Cup that Schauffele wasn't exactly the most gung-ho participant in a lot of events or ancillary meetings. Each player prepares differently, however, and despite the seeming importance of team unity on the European side in Rome, it might be more beneficial for certain players to be left to their own devices.
As for when the Cup returns to Europe in 2027, Schauffele believes giving them more time on the continent would be beneficial.
"I think that’s maybe heading over earlier as a team together; not three months earlier or one month earlier, just a week early or five days earlier, whatever we can agree to," Schauffele said. "I think that will make a big difference."
That was one of the most frequently repeated criticisms of the US preparation; while most of the European players were already acclimated to the time zone and playing competitive golf, the US players had done just the opposite. Schauffele seems to agree, and if Bradley does an exceptional job in 2025, maybe he'll be back in 2027 to incorporate more of these suggestions.