Devastated Keegan Bradley: "There's no part of me that thinks I will get over this"

Keegan Bradley says he doesn't believe he will ever be able to get over the United States' Ryder Cup defeat at Bethpage Black. 

The 39-year-old was named as the surprise choice to succeed Zach Johnson after Tiger Woods turned it down. 

He took a stacked team to New York in September and many believed his side were the narrow favourites to win back the Cup. 

But they were up against it from the off and trailed by a record seven points heading into the final day in the Big Apple. 

Despite a spirited comeback in the Sunday singles - where the US won 8.5 points from 11 matches - his team ended up losing by two points. 

Bradley told reporters during a recent media day promoting the Travelers Championship that the "effing event" has been so brutal to him. 

He was referencing the fact that he tasted defeated for the stars and stripes twice as a player, including when Europe mounted an improbable comeback at Medinah in 2012.

"There's no part of me that thinks I'll ever get over this," Bradley said. 

"You win, it's glory for a lifetime. You lose, it's 'I'm going to have to sit with this for the rest of my life."

Bradley said the first two days of the 45th edition of the contest went as poorly as he could have imagined. 

He had to compose himself before speaking to the team on the Saturday evening as he attempted to instill some confidence. 

"It was pretty emotional," he said. "It was sad, to be honest."

Bradley said the weeks after the Ryder Cup have been the toughest of his life. 

In the months leading up to the contest, there was plenty of discussion as to whether Bradley should have been taking on the role of player and captain. 

Despite being among the top 12 in the US Ryder Cup standings, Bradley decided to make the ultimate sacrifice by electing just to concentrate on the captaincy. 

"I'll forever wonder and wish that I had a chance to play there," Bradley said. 

"The first practice day, I was out on the tee, and I was watching the guys walk down the fairway all together, and I said: 'I wish I was playing. That's what it's all about. I'm missing out.'

"By the second or third day I was like 'It's a good thing I'm not playing,' because I was so physically exhausted. 

"Good thing I didn't do it, because it would have been bad.

"I just didn't think I could do both jobs."

What went wrong for Keegan Bradley?

The United States got off to the worst possible start. 

Bradley decided to begin the contest with foursomes, a format that traditionally has favoured the Europeans. 

Some have suggested Bradley should have decided to go with fourballs in the first session to try and get off to a fast start. 

His pairings were also heavily scrutinised, particularly the combination of Harris English and Collin Morikawa. 

Morikawa and English were battered 5&4 by Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood and Bradley decided to send them out together again where they were once again defeated by the formidable European pairing. 

It was also pointed out that the Bradley and Morikawa foursomes partnership were ranked 132nd out of 132 possible foursomes pairings by the analytics site Data Golf.

Bradley has also admitted he made mistakes with the course set-up. 

The decision to cut rough and soften course conditions seems counter intuitive for home advantage.

Elsewhere, Bradley had Russell Henley (who partnered Scottie Scheffler in the foursomes) tee off on the odd holes. 

This seemed like a mistake and was later revised after input from the players' caddies. Some saw this as a lack of planning. 

The odd holes at Bethpage favoured the longer hitters. McIlroy knew well in advance what tees he would be playing off. 

European Ryder Cup vice captain and stats guru Edoardo 'Dodo' Molinari said he was surprised by this.

For all of Bradley's mistakes, it should be stressed that some players just didn't perform. The aforementioned Scheffler lost his first four matches. 

Scheffler salvaged some pride in the singles, defeating an exhausted McIlroy on the final hole. 

Cameron Young, a rookie, and Xander Schauffele were the top points scorers for the US team with three points apiece.