The Ryder Cup is still three weeks away and it feels as though it already has started.

The opening shot was not from the first tee at Bethpage Black in a foursomes match. It was 2,575 kilometres away in Frisco, Texas, where Keegan Bradley kept golf fans in suspense over whether he would be the first playing captain in 62 years.

Bradley knew all along he wasn’t playing.

He said after announcing his six picks last Wednesday — four of them are below him in the world ranking — the decision “was made a while ago that I wasn’t playing.” This was four days after he was asked at East Lake if he had clarity on his choices and replied, “No, because I think no matter what decision that I make here, I could have gone the other way.”

But he sent a clear message when he made his picks. It was about

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