Keegan Bradley reveals US Ryder Cup pairings ‘pretty set’ as captain offers clues at Procore Championship

United States captain Keegan Bradley believes his Ryder Cup pairings are "90 percent" finalised.

Ten of the team are playing the Procore Championship in Napa, California, with Xander Schauffele absent after becoming a father and Bryson DeChambeau ineligible as a LIV Golf player.

Tournament organisers have ceded to Bradley's request to put certain players together in the first two rounds and, as a result, World No 1 Scottie Scheffler is with rookie Russell Henley and non-member Webb Simpson.

Two other first-timers - Cameron Young and Ben Griffin - have been grouped with Justin Thomas, making his fourth appearance, while Collin Morikawa, Sam Burns and final rookie JJ Spaun - the US Open champion - are together.

Harris English, Patrick Cantlay and another non-team member Gary Woodland make up the final group.

"Very far along. We're 90 percent I'd say," said Bradley when asked how complete his thinking is.

"One of our goals was to have the guys prepared, ready to know who they're playing with, especially in alternate shot (foursomes), I think that's more important.

"I think best ball (fourballs) you can have a little more leeway there but we're pretty set here with what we're going to do."

Although DeChambeau cannot play, he attended a team-bonding dinner on Tuesday.

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"We're in an awkward spot with where we sit in the golf world. A lot of responsibility has fallen on Bryson. He has to make a much bigger effort than a lot of the guys," added Bradley.

"It's easy for the guys to come play here and come to dinner. Bryson's got to get on a plane, he's got to come to these meetings and it shows the commitment Bryson has for the team. He's going to be a huge asset for us."

A bigger asset will be reigning Open and US PGA champion Scheffler.

"The more I'm around Scottie, the more I'm impressed with who he is," said Bradley.

"When you see Scottie around our guys, around the rookies, with the willingness of doing literally whatever it takes for us to win the Ryder Cup you know the rest of your team is going to fall in line of his lead.

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"I admire him, I look up to Scottie. I'm not afraid to say that."

For all his individual dominance, Scheffler's Ryder Cup record is mixed: two wins and tie in the 2021 win at Whistling Straits but two defeats and two draws in the Rome loss, where he was reduced to tears after a record 9&7 thrashing by Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg.

But the four-time major winner believes that helped spark his recent run of impressive form.

"The last Ryder Cup did not go how I anticipated it would go. I think I left there without winning a single match and that hurt," he said.

"I think any time you have tough losses, it can go one of two ways. It can be something that you can use for something good or it can kind of break you down.

"I was fired up and excited to get home and practice and I think my results since then have proven how much work that I put into my game and to get to the point where I am now."

PA