'There’s No Easy Way To Say This...' - Zach Johnson's Brutal Ryder Cup Call To Keegan Bradley Detailed In Full Swing

Full Swing Season 2 captured the heart-breaking moment Zach Johnson called Keegan Bradley to tell him his Ryder Cup dream was over

Zach Johnson and an inset of Keegan Bradley
(Image credit: Netflix)

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.

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.

Keegan Bradley at the 2012 Ryder Cup

Keegan Bradley starred with Phil Mickelson but USA still lost the 2012 Ryder Cup

(Image credit: Getty Images)

“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."

Paul Higham
Contributor

Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website.  Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush.