Keegan Bradley has fired a firm warning to Rory McIlroy and his European Ryder Cup teammates ahead of next year's showdown at Bethpage Black in New York.
Bradley was a left-field choice to be awarded the USA captaincy after Tiger Woods turned the opportunity down, with the 38-year-old still among the most prominent contenders on the PGA Tour. He still harbors hopes of qualifying for the 12-man team, but he is relishing the captain's role and he has laid it out in no uncertain terms that the Europeans are in for a rude awakening when they arrive in New York next September to defend the title.
McIlroy has been bullish about Europe's chances since winning back the trophy in Rome last year, and he doubled down on his stance with some choice words for hecklers as he played a practice round at St Andrews last week. American tourists shouted to McIlroy as he played the Old Course: "New York loves you, the Bronx baby, the Bronx.”
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The Northern Irishman bellowed in reply: "You’re not gonna love us next year," in reference to the looming battle at Bethpage. But Bradley says the New York crowd will certainly influence matters and give the Americans a significant home-field advantage.
"The New York fans are incredible fans; they're going to be passionate, they're going to be loud and they're going to be crazy, just like any Ryder Cup you go to, any away Ryder Cup you go to," he told the Fore Play Podcast. "They're going to be loud and they're going to cheer for their home team. It's going to be tough to play there if you're not an American. I don't know what else to say. I expect them to behave appropriately. I can't control how they are going to act but they are going to be fired up.
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"With 10,000 people on the first tee, it's going to be a tough place to play, just like Madison Square Garden is a tough place for the Celtics to go play the Knicks. It's a tough place to play."
Bradley has made no attempt to play down the hype since being named captain last month, insisting next year's Ryder Cup has "The potential to be one of the greatest sporting events of all time".
"Forget about the outcome, you're playing golf's biggest event on golf's biggest stage in New York," he continued. "Everybody who has played Bethpage in a tournament knows how wild and crazy it is then. It's going to be great for golf and ridiculously golf for the Ryder Cup.
"I expect the fans to behave accordingly but I can't be out there scolding people. That never goes over well when you do that anyways, especially in New York."
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