Keegan Bradley hits back at Rory McIlroy after questioning playing captain role

He was bullish!

There was much speculation as to whether he would pick himself, but ultimately he decided against it.

A couple of weeks ago, Rory McIlroy revealed that he had been approached about being a playing captain in a future Ryder Cup, but he immediately shot down the offer.

Believing it to be "something I don't think you can do", McIlroy said: "The idea of me being a playing captain sometime soon has come up and I've shot it down straight away because I don't think you can do it.

"If you'd have said it 20 years ago I'd say it was probably possible to do, but how big of a spectacle it is and everything that's on the line in a Ryder Cup now, I just think it would be a very difficult position to be in.

"You think about the extra meetings that the captains have to do with the vice captains, with the PGA of America, in Keegan's case, preparing your speech for the opening ceremony.

"Really, the captain's only going to be able to play one session on Friday, one session on Saturday. Would you rather not have a player that has the flexibility to go twice if he's playing well?

"It's just my opinion, but I think it would just be very difficult to do."

In his press conference after his captain's picks, Bradley seemed to take McIlroy's comments personally and hit back.

He said: "I am not worried about what they do or say.

“I'm not sure how he would know if it is not possible, nobody has ever done it, I said through this process I wish I could call Palmer and get his advice.

“The simple fact is it’s a different animal now to the 60s, they can make comments on what I can or cannot do. No-one would have known.

“I was confident if I did need to play, I had incredible vice captains to lean on. This was the decision I thought was best.”

The Ryder Cup takes place from September 26 to September 28 at Bethpage Black in New York.