OverDrive - Vail on Bradley's mastery at the Travelers, the winning perspective and captaining at the Ryder Cup

Episode Date: June 23, 2025

PGA Tour Caddie Scott Vail joined OverDrive to discuss Keegan Bradley's triumph at the Travelers Championship, the birdie putt to win the tournament, the dynamics of his shot on the 18th hole, Tommy Fleetwood's missed opportunity, captaining the Ryder Cup and representing United States and more.

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And hits from 2SLGBTQ plus Canadian artists be yourself and stand proud it's your soundtrack for Pride and beyond just ask your smart speaker to play iHeartPrideCanada stream us on your phone or listen now at iHeartRadio.ca happy pride from iHeartPrideCanada here's Scott Phelps, he was on the bag for Keegan all week, he has been for years. What's up Scotty?

Hello boys, I told you a couple of weeks ago it was going to happen and here we are. Yes sir, man, that's got to be gratifying. How cool was that scene on 18 yesterday? It was just one of the most incredible days of my life. It was so special, chasing a win all day and it didn't look like we had a chance and then all of a sudden on 18 boom we got a putt from six feet to win the win the tournament. It was so surreal. It's still not hit me yet. It was just amazing. So when you see Tommy Fleetwood

leave his ball right in front of Keegans on 18. Like as a caddy that's got to just be the most incredible thing in the world because if he makes it you got to read if he misses it you got to read like what because I saw Keegan looked at him immediately and said you want me to move my mark like he knew what was coming. What was your what was your view of like the Tommy Fleetwood scene around the green on 18? Yeah a lot of the times that doesn't work out the way it should. The guy will put a different stroke on it. They might hit their putts a different way. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

In Keegan's instance, he had actually said to me, I was so proud of my putt, if you look at the replay of Tommy's it wiggled like right. I think he didn't play enough break as is but Keegan was like I was proud of myself for for just doing my thing and I was like don't pay attention to Tommy's putt. I know you saw but trust your instincts. So that can backfire too when that happens. He was, I had a moment, 15 minutes with him last night, just one on one time before the chaos started.

He said, I was so proud of myself for just ignoring Tommy's pots, his pot and just trusting his instincts. It was pretty cool though. I knew he wasn't going to miss it. I mean, he's just such a special player when the chips are on the table. Yeah that's the amazing thing is that like when Tommy misses it, you know I'm curious what you thought what would have made him more nervous like if Tommy makes that and Keegan's got to hit it to get into the playoff or Tommy misses it

and he knows okay I can win this thing now. Like, what would he have a different viewpoint you think if Fleetwood hit that putt? I think, I mean, my thoughts are when you're in that position, you're thinking Tommy's going to make the putt on the front fringe and he doesn't make it. Now you're excited. But you plan on Tommy making it it's now it now it's a match play situation and you know Keegan's the whole time he's dialed in he was laser focused I wasn't near him I was just watching his demeanor and I

was like this guy's gonna make him he said to me walking off 17 you know he's been the chaser all day then he said to me on 17, you have a ball that has a birdie in it and I said I do and I went to the bag and grabbed, you know, there's a fresh leaf and it was a number one. I'm like here's your birdie ball and when he, when I did that and he said that to me I was like this, this guy's gonna make birdie. There's no doubt in my mind that he's gonna make birdie. And he had the most beautiful drive,

the most beautiful nine iron. You know, at that point, you don't know what Tommy's gonna do. But I knew Keegan was gonna make birdie. And it was just, there's times where I just pinched myself and it's just so special to be, you know, riding shotgun with somebody as elite as Keegan. It's just amazing.

It's surreal. Keegan's got, we could call it the clutch mentality. You just shared some of the insight where, hey, give me a birdie ball. How do you keep it together? I mean, how do you focus and not lose your you know what when things are so tense and so exciting? Part of being a good caddy, I think is just being even keel. I've been around doing this for 17 years on the PGA Tour. You've seen it all.

I've been on the Tommy Fleetwood end, which, which stinks and the heartbreak and you just never give up. That's why it's 72 holes. I know it sounds cliche or, you know, bang the puck off the glass and get it out of your zone, you know, keep it simple type stuff, you know, the hockey analogy, but he's just with him. He's just such a fighter. He will not stop until you know, the 72nd hole So, you know as a caddy you're just just trying to keep your player even keeled but with Keegan Especially when he's on Sunday and he's you know, he's in the mix. She just kind of just get out of his way He knows what he needs to do

With Scott Vale caddy for Keegan Bradley and you mentioned that 18th or the 72nd hole great drive nine iron makes the putt it looked as if Fleetwood had a nine iron and went to a wedge and there's been all this discussion online on golf channel was it him was it his caddy I don't know if you're aware of that or what was going on there but from your view viewpoint like you mentioned you stay out of his way would you did you hand them the nine or did you say do you want a nine a wedge what like how does that work in terms of such a massively important shot where you might be in between clubs what is the role of the caddy in a situation like that? I mean the role of the caddy is to you've got a

fair percentages you got to know you know what your players feeling we had 139 yards to the pin he hits his pitching wedge 144 the wind flicked on 17 on our approach shot like almost dead end and so it was 18 was almost dead end and I you know as a as a caddy you're getting the yardage and you start thinking what's's he going to say? What's he going to hit? And I'm thinking, you know, pitching wedge probably, it's not enough. We were Wednesday practice round these lakes, Scott, this front bunker is dead. It's a downhill lie. You can't see it unless you're down in the bunker. And so you think about these things, you just want to give yourself a chance. So, you know, we discussed pitching wedge and I'm like, it's just not enough Keegan.

And you also have to take in the, you know, you have to take in like the adrenaline, you know, there's so many things to take into account and it was a hard shot for Keegan. It's a, not many players with adrenaline pumping can flight some and chip it. They'd rather hit it full. Tommy hit a full pitching wedge to the front left of the green. You've got to get a feel for your player and you're just so happy when your player's on the same page as you. And Keegan knew it and he was just kind of like, get out of the way, Scott.

I got this. That's some of the best, you know, when you hear that as a caddy you're like, oh I don't have to do much. Scotty, can you take us back to the 14th hole? It feels like it was a bit of a pivotal moment in the round where, you know, Keegan overcooks a 125-yard shot, Fleetwood's got a chance to make birdie, he misses, he makes par, Keegan's got to go sideways out of a trap, ends up making bogey. Can you take us through that whole process and maybe what you guys were thinking walking up to 15?

Yeah, not much was said. Walking off, Keegan's so good at those yardages and it was a nice light sand wedge. He had struggled on that 14th hole for whatever reason it is. He's been leaving it out right all week the first three days. Pin high right. The pin was on the right. He's like, I'm going to be aggressive. He told me that last night after the fact and just pulled it, you know, right at impact

saying I'm not going to miss this right. But there wasn't much chatter on 15. It was, you know, back to, you know, what club do we need to do? We didn't say anything, do anything. And you know, at that point you're in like fourth or three back, but there's a lot of stuff that can happen on those holes. So it was just keep plodding along and see what can happen. Keep fighting, you know, Tommy hadn't won, you know, on the tour.

So there's pressure with that. And you just never know on those final four holes there. It's such a unique golf course, you know. With Scott Vail, uh, caddy for Keegan Bradley. So immediately after he wins the Ryder Cup is right in his face. So what's this guy gonna do? He's a captain of the team and now I think is he up the number seven in the world, Scotty? I believe he is or he's seventh. Yeah so I mean I don't he's gonna probably play his way into it

anyway but can you give us any insight here like what what is I know Keegan would like to play but if he if he plays and I think he's earned his way on to playing I don't think he'd have to explain it to anyone I don't know why you wouldn't want Keegan Bradley on your team the way he's been playing he's a northeastern guy it's in New York but does he intend on playing and being captain and how complicated could this be yeah I I don't know it's been such a whirlwind I think you know we haven't know. It's been such a whirlwind. We haven't talked about it.

It's been the elephant in the room all year. And he's like, I'm just focused on being a captain and being a golfer. He's playing with these two roles. And last night, the dynamic has shifted now. I don't know what's going to happen. We'll see how the next six weeks play out, but I can tell you one thing. If there's 12 guys on the team and Keegan's not on the team, I think that's... If I'm playing on the team, I want Keegan on the team.

I want him playing in the moment at Bath Page. I don't know. I don't know what will happen. I don't know if he knows what will happen. It's an interesting dynamic, you know, and I think as players, the guys that are going to be on the team, I think they have such a respect for him and his ability to be in that moment and you need guys. Beth Page is going to be a different animal. It's New York, you know, they're going to be loud, they're going to be raucous, they're going to boo the home team if they hit bad shots. That's

the way they are. So it's going to take a special kind of player and Keegan's definitely that special kind of player. I don't know what will happen though. I think that's a good point that you bring up about the location of it, right? It's Beth Page, it's New York, it's rowdy, they're Rockus and Keegan, he plays golf with passion and you can't say that about every player on the tour. Like some guys they just kind of go about their business robotic and there's nothing wrong with that, but something about the Ryder Cup and the passion that brings out, it's almost like, like don't you feel like Keegan's kind of made for something like that?

Don't you feel like Keegan's kind of made for something like that? I do. I mean, I'm biased and I love the guy. He's my boss, but I mean, he's made to be the captain as well. He's made to be the captain. He's made to be the player. I mean, you can never doubt this guy. His whole life, people have doubted him. He went to St. John's.

It was the only place that offered him a scholarship. He was always the chip on the shoulder and doubted him. He went to St. John's, it was the only place that offered him a scholarship. He was always the chip on the shoulder and doubted him. And even when he got named the captain last year, it was I was one of them. I was like, how much is this going to affect your golf? And he's been better. He's playing the best golf I've ever seen. So I don't know with this guy. He's see I know one thing you never doubt them. So I would want him on the team You know if you're gonna put your best, you know your best team out there and try to win I mean, I would pick them on the team, but we'll see how you know the next six weeks goes and and Figure it out

Who was in charge of the celebration last night? We didn't do much, you know, they're not always some nights they're celebrating but you know by the time he was done media he was done at nine and he had his family there and and I had couple beers and a quick bite to eat and I dropped them off at his rental house and he was on his way home and I was at the airport this morning to fly to Detroit so not much but we'll have a good dinner tomorrow night maybe sip some red wine and I'm gonna get after it once I'm done with this phone call though.

We gotta get you out of here on that note. I love it. Call on your shot man, going Babe Ruth. Alright Scotty, good luck tonight pal. Keep it on the rails as much as you can. I'll keep it in between the rails. Attaboy congrats thanks Scott. Thanks guys. There he is Scott Vail. Radio in Montreal. You can win two gold weekend passes to see The Killers, Dochi, Olivia Rodrigo, and more. With travel from TripCentral.ca, four nights at Montreal Marriott Chateau Champlain, and $500 spending cash. Just listen to iHeart New Music on the iHeart Radio app for 10 minutes every day for your chance to win iHeart Radio Experience. Oceaga.