Keegan Bradley's caddie Scott Vail was bracing for the worst when he woke up to a text from his boss after the Travelers Championship, fearing he might be getting the sack.
But in an unexpected twist, s early morning message was to tell his trusted aide that he had been named the new . Vail shared the rollercoaster of emotions on Golf's Sub Par Podcast, recalling how he received a text saying, 'Call me, I need to speak to you', which set alarm bells ringing.
"The Monday morning [after the Travelers Championship], I got up at 7am and I had a text already from him saying, 'You know we text back and forth a lot, but we've been on the road for like four weeks'," Vail recounted. "It was to have it, you know, straight away the next morning."
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He added, "The text said, 'Call me, I need to speak to you'. And I'm like, 'Oh, what did I do? What did I do last week that's getting me fired today? ! " Fortunately, the call turned out to be a joyous one, with Bradley excited to inform Vail about his prestigious new role.
"I pick up the phone immediately," the caddie recounted. "I call him. I'm like, 'Hey, is everything alright? ' And he's like, 'You're not gonna believe this.' And he tells me that they want him as the Ryder Cup captain. And I was like, 'Oh my gosh'. Like, I was shocked at first, and then I was like, emotional.
"I was almost crying because I know how much it means to him, how much not being on the team last year meant to him. It was just like this whirlwind of emotions and I'm sitting there kind of like, I'm pretty sure I was crying a little bit."
While Bradley has been appointed as the man in charge, he could well still feature as a player.
Having secured the BMW Championship earlier this summer, Bradley is currently positioned as the 14th top golfer globally, giving him a solid chance of qualifying as a player for Team USA next fall. Speaking at a press conference earlier this week, Bradley seemed uncertain about whether he could pull double duty as both a player and captain.
"I made a promise to myself that I'm not going to worry about this until the time comes if I do," he stated in New York. "It's really difficult to make the American team every year; you have to go out and really perform. Like I said, right now, my focus is on being a captain, but I'm still a full-time player."
"I'm still playing in all the majors and all the big events next year. So I have a real shot at doing this. For now, I'm focusing on my guys and getting them ready to go."
