Former Ryder Cup captain: These 3 LIV Golf stars would have saved Team USA
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Paul Azinger has criticized Keegan Bradley and Rory McIlroy for their roles at Bethpage…
Paul Azinger is not one to shy away from airing his opinion – and the former Ryder Cup captain has had plenty to say about what transpired at Bethpage in a testing Ryder Cup for both teams.
First to feel the wrath of the 65-year-old, who oversaw a comfortable five-shot victory against Nick Faldo’s European side in 2008, was Rory McIlroy.
The New York masses hurled a torrent of abuse at the European talisman, who, as well as letting his clubs do the talking, hit back on a number of occasions, and was caught on camera saying “f*** you” to various members of the partisan crowd.
When asked about the fans in his team’s post-victory press conference, McIlroy said that “golf should be held to a higher standard than what was seen out there this week”.
But speaking on the Subpar podcast, Azinger called McIlroy out for his hypocritical words.
“Rory probably turned down $500m not to go to LIV,” the American explained. “He is a European and we see how much he wants to beat our tour, but he stayed here and fought for us. He fought for the PGA Tour. So I love him for that.
“But in the press conference, after it’s over, he is saying that I think golf should be held to a higher standard of decorum. But in the meantime he says ‘f-you, f-you, f-you’ in full voice for the world to see.
“He turns around and says to the guy ‘shut the f up’. The guy in the media asks him how did that feel Rory, to tell him to shut up and then hit it to two feet, and he said ‘it felt pretty f’ing good’.
“Which is it, Rory? Is it that golf is held to a higher standard? Or are you just going to f-you the fans and act that like that’s OK?
“I love Rory, but you can’t say that. You can’t say the fans need to behave better and then in the meantime lay them to waste. You can’t do both. You have got to be one or the other.”
Keegan Bradley, whose three involvements in the Ryder Cup as a player and captain have ended in defeat, also copped some flak from Azinger.
The United States captain did not pick a single LIV Golf player, with only Bryson DeChambeau – who qualified automatically – representing the league for the red, white and blue.
Bradley overlooked a number of LIV Golf players and instead opted for Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay, Cameron Young, Ben Griffin and Sam Burns.
But despite those six winning nine of the United States 13 points, Azinger says three LIV Golf players in particular would have helped the Bradley get the Ryder Cup victory he so desperately craves.
“I feel like once we dipped into the well on LIV, we probably should have brought five-time major winning [Brooks] Koepka, who won the PGA Championship at Bethpage Black,” Azinger explained.
“Then maybe pick Patrick Reed and Dustin Johnson.
“I would have really probably pulled Koepka. There is no way Koepka is not going to man up and play great this Ryder Cup, but they did not.”
Azinger used Luke Donald, who picked Jon Rahm and paired him with his Legion XIII teammate Tyrrell Hatton, as an example of how Bradley should have done it.
“That was a brilliant pair and a brilliant pick,” he said. “Luke did everything right.”
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Keegan Bradley has come under fire for not picking LIV Golf players at the Ryder Cup.
