When a Nextflix camera crew turned up at Keegan Bradley's house to film the biggest phone call of his career, he thought he'd done enough, but as soon as he heard Zach Johnson's voice he knew his Ryder Cup dream was over.
Watching a man so determined to try and make Team USA see his dream dashed is one of the hardest bits of TV you will witness during Full Swing Season 2.
These calls have not been showcased this way before, as we will see Bradley crushed by missing out on a trip to Rome and an emotional Johnson having to deal with making the call every captain dreads.
"Hey buddy. Thanks for being patient with me. There’s no easy way to say this my friend, I find it best to just go in a different direction this year," Johnson says as he breaks the news to Bradley.
"It’s nothing you did or didn’t do because you’re amazing on and off the course I just feel like it's best this year to go in a different direction. I would love to take 30 guys and I cannot. And just know that I am so grateful for you."
Bradley replied: "OK Zach, I understand. Wishing you obviously good luck and hope that you guys go over there and win it."
"Thank you Keegs, I appreciate you buddy," Johnson finished, before adding “My heart is beating fast" after hanging up on the call.
“Give your dad a squeeze, he needs it. That stinks,” added Keegan's wife Jill Bradley.
Netflix sent cameras to Keegan’s house right before the Ryder Cup call so he thought he made the team. Absolutely devastating.Presented by @Chevrolet #Ad #ChevyEV pic.twitter.com/jxQRNPhPZjSeptember 21, 2023
Bradley, who has already spoken about how devastating it was to receive that call, is later filmed telling his son “Hey, we’ve got to start cheering louder to get this team going, OK”.
“It’s anger, sadness, all the things but then it’s like there’s no wrong decisions with who’s on the team, everyone’s such a great player," Bradley adds on Full Swing, while wearing a Ryder Cup cap.
"I love these guys, and one of the main reasons I wanted to make the team was I wanted to be around these guys. The energy that they have. And I see JT the way he prepares and practices and if I was the captain, I would want him in my locker room."
Jill Bradley also talks about the Ryder Cup suitcase Bradley still has from the 2014 defeat at Gleneagles, which he still hasn't opened.
“The Ryder Cup means so much to Keegan," she says. "And he’ll say it’s some of the best and absolute worst memories of his life. He still has the Ryder Cup suitcase.
"He just never unpacked it. I think it is just the thought of opening it, reliving the grief of how that ended, was just kind of too much to bear."
Bradley, who also played in 2012 when Europe pulled off the Miracle at Medinah, says 2014 was real low point, and is desperate to get a Ryder Cup win under his belt.
“It’s heavy man," Bradley adds. "That’s probably my lowest point in my career, was that moment, and I would love to change that. When I’m done and I’m retired, having a Ryder Cup win on my resume versus a loss would be a huge difference for me”
“I just hope, someday, I get to win a Ryder Cup and open that thing and just have, like, a peace-of-mind moment, because I’m thinking about the Ryder Cup every second of every day."
