Sky Sports was forced to issue an on-air apology during coverage of The Open at Royal Birkdale after Team USA Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley was overheard dropping an F-bomb following a missed bogey putt on the first hole of his second round.
Bradley's difficult start
Bradley, 40, began Friday at one-under par after carding a 69 in the first round, but his second round quickly unravelled. He ended up double-bogeying the par-four first hole after his bogey putt lipped out, prompting the expletive. The American has never finished better than tied for 15th at The Open.
Commentating on Bradley's putt just after 8:15am, Tim Barter said: "Keegan Bradley, Ryder Cup captain for the Americans last time, is having his problems. Sorry if you heard some inappropriate language there. That is not the start he was looking for, stating the bloomin' obvious."
Commentators discuss Ryder Cup impact
Nick Dougherty added: "Shows you how psychological the game is. He played beautifully last year. The Ryder Cup has had an effect on his own personal performance, the aftermath of it, such was the heartbreak of it." Barter agreed, concluding: "The Ryder Cup's just been cruel to him his whole career. There's no one in America who loves it more than he, and he's had nothing but disappointment as a player, and now as a captain."
Bradley on his form
In the mixed zone after his opening round, Bradley was asked about his form. He responded: "Not that great, but it's been a challenging year. Coming off of last year and the Ryder Cup and everything, just trying to get back to normal. I'm starting to feel better. But I'm in a unique position in my career where I'm trying to make the playoffs for the first time in my career. So it's kind of like in a weird way kind of fun."
Bradley is currently 75th in the FedEx Cup standings. Only the top 70 qualify for the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Acknowledging that he is not assured of a spot, he added: "It's annoying, but in a weird, like demented way, it's kind of fun that I have to go out and try to do it."
He continued: "It's so tough coming off these Ryder Cups. Like, I'm in, again, a unique position of a person that's going back out and supposed to be a premier, top player trying to win tournaments and trying to navigate that, but we're getting there." Bradley also noted that a couple of years ago he got into the BMW Championship as the last guy in and had a chance to win the FedEx Cup.
