Keegan Bradley has chance to win FedEx Cup, but wishes he could ask Arnold Palmer for Ryder Cup advice

ATLANTA — It seems like much more than coincidence the way things have unfolded this week for Keegan Bradley at East Lake Golf Club. Perhaps it’s a spiritual connection of sorts that has been inspiring him the last two days, an awakening that he needed at just this moment, at this place.

Sixty-two years ago, in the 15th edition of the Ryder Cup at East Lake, Arnold Palmer served as the last playing captain of the U.S. team. Palmer was among the 10 players who qualified for the 1963 team following the completion of the PGA Championship in Dallas. Simultaneously, Palmer was chosen unanimously to be the captain in what was just his second Ryder Cup.

Now Bradley might be the next one, and he might be cementing his spot in the place where Palmer led the U.S. to a resounding 23-9 victory over a team solely comprised of players from Great Britain.

With a seven-under 63 on Saturday, the low round of the day, Bradley put himself in contention to win the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup. At 13-under 197, the former PGA champion stands in fourth place, trailing Patrick Cantlay and Tommy Fleetwood by three strokes, while Russell Henley is one ahead of Bradley. Cantlay, by the way, also is vying for a spot on the 12-man U.S. team that Bradley will complete on Wednesday with six wild-card picks. Henley already qualified on points.

The decision on whether Bradley selects himself has only grown more difficult as he has climbed up the leaderboard after a slow start. He wasn’t sure a win Sunday would make it any easier.

If only there were someone he could ask.

“I wish he was alive and I could call him,” Bradley said as gray skies pressed down on Saturday’s third round. “If I had one thing, I wish I could call Arnold and talk to him because I think he'd have some great advice for me.”

Yes, but Palmer, who died in 2016, didn’t have to worry about captain’s picks. He barely had time to worry about anything. The PGA concluded July 21 and the first day of Ryder Cup competition was Oct. 11.

Bradley has had to settle for the next best thing, channeling a bit of inspiration from the Captains Room at East Lake just inside the entranceway. Palmer’s golf bag and umbrella from the '63 Ryder Cup are on display along with several photos of the seven-time major winner and memorabilia of other U.S. captains.

Arriving at East Lake late Monday after stopping at Bethpage State Park to promote the Ryder Cup by handing out nearly 100 free tickets to unsuspecting golfers playing the Red Course—next month’s matches against Europe will be held on the famed Black Course—Bradley chose to rest rather than grind in preparation for the $40 million FedEx Cup finale. He did, however, check out the Captains Room.

“There is, all of his stuff from 1963 is in there, his bag … it's pretty surreal looking at it,” Bradley said. “It's where we register, so I saw his bag, and it was really weird looking at it. Like really strange because I'm nowhere in the world of Arnold Palmer. and somehow I'm in this with him right now, which is definitely strange.”

What also seemed a bit weird to Bradley has been his level of play after an opening 70. “I have no idea,” he said when asked how he was pulling this off. And it wasn’t just that he played well, but he was moved to call Saturday’s round of six birdies and an eagle against one bogey maybe his best of the year.

He might need one just like it to quiet any doubters who think he should not be taking his clubs to New York. A win or high finish would push him up the points standings from his current 11th place among U.S. players. He is ranked 13th in the world with a win in June at the Travelers Championship. Bradley has played just twice in the biennial competition, in 2012 and ‘14. The U.S. lost both times.

He made it sound like he and his vice captains already have made up their minds.

“I'm either going to win or I'm not and we're going to know the picks,” he said. “We're pretty confident with the picks that we have. One more day of golf to kind of finalize this whole thing, and I can't wait. I'm done with this whole process. I want it over with either way.

“It's difficult because I want to put the team in the best position to win the Ryder Cup. So there's sort of an unknown of … Arnold Palmer did it in 1963, but it's a totally different tournament now. It's just a heavy decision. All the picks are tough. Captain is going to be judged on who they pick. Pretty strange thing to pick yourself. It's something that I've been thinking about for a long time, and I just want to make sure we make the right one.

“I know one thing,” Bradley added, “I’m not Arnold Palmer.”

Yeah, but maybe being Keegan Bradley is enough.