PGA Tour caddie on shock 7am text message: 'What did I do that's getting me fired?!'
'I was crying a little bit' - PGA Tour caddie Scott Vail reveals his mix of emotions after receiving a text message from his boss Keegan Bradley.
PGA Tour caddie Scott Vail has opened up on the shock text message he received from his boss Keegan Bradley earlier this summer where he feared his job was at risk.
But thankfully for Vail, who has been on Bradley's bag for the best part of eight years, it was a happy update.
Bradley, 38, wanted to let his caddie and good friend Vail be the first to know that he had just been asked by the PGA of America to become 2025 United States Ryder Cup captain.
Vail explained all with Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz on the latest episode of GOLF’s Subpar podcast.
Bradley informed Vail of his happy Ryder Cup news bright and early on the Monday morning after the Travelers Championship in June.
But it was the nature and timing of Bradley's text message that had Vail fearing for his job security.
"The Monday morning [after the Travelers Championship], I got up at 7am and I had a text already from him saying, ‘You know we text back and forth a lot, but we’ve been on the road for like four weeks'," said Vail.
"It was weird to have it, you know, straight away the next morning. The text said, ‘Call me, I need to speak to you’. And I’m like, ‘Oh, what did I do? What did I do last week that’s getting me fired today?!’
"So I pick up the phone immediately. Call him. I’m like, ‘Hey, is everything alright?’ And he’s like, ‘You’re not gonna believe this’. And he tells me that they want him as the Ryder Cup captain.
"And I was like, ‘Oh my gosh’. Like, I was shocked at first, and then I was like, emotional. I was almost crying because I know how much it means to him, how much not being on the team last year meant to him.
"It was just like this whirlwind of emotions and I’m sitting there kind of like, I’m pretty sure I was crying a little bit.”
Vail, who previously worked for Brandt Snedeker for 12 years and a couple of months for Henrik Stenson on the PGA Tour, then told Knost and Stoltz just how much the Ryder Cup captaincy means to Bradley, especially after he was unfortunately denied a wildcard pick in Zach Johnson's 2023 side.
He also explained he had to keep tight-lipped on his boss' revelation for the best part of two weeks.
“I know how hard he works and I care for him as a boss, as a friend," continued Vail, the son of former NHL player Eric Vail.
"And yeah, he let me know, and I was like, ‘Well, are you gonna do it? You gotta do it, right? Captain America. Bethpage, you went to school there’.
“I had to keep my mouth shut for, I think 10 to 14 days. He’s like, ‘Don’t tell anybody’. I didn’t tell a soul. And that was hard to do. But yeah, it’s gonna be amazing.”
Watch the full interview here:
Bradley has confirmed he still very much intends to play his way into the 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup team.
But the seven-time PGA Tour winner has made it clear he will not pick himself should he miss out on the automatic six spots in the side.
Bradley played a key role in the United States team seeing out a 10th consecutive victory over thttps://www.golfmagic.com/tour/pga-tourhe Internationals at the Presidents Cup last month.
He was initially down as one of Jim Fuyrk's assistant captains but after his victory at the BMW Championship in August, he was named as one of six captain picks in the team.
The United States are looking to regain the Ryder Cup having lost out to Luke Donald's European team 16.5-11.5 at Marco Simeone in Rome.
Donald will once again hold the reins of the European Ryder Cup team at Bethpage Black in New York next September.
GolfMagic spoke exclusively to LIV Golf star and record European Ryder Cup points scorer Sergio Garcia this week.
Garcia, 44, is contemplating the possibility of returning to the DP World Tour next season to give himself another shot at making an 11th Ryder Cup team.
Concessions will need to be made though in the eyes of Garcia.
On the topic of Bradley being named U.S. Ryder Cup captain, Garcia told us: "Yeah it was a surprise, but he's played in a few Ryder Cups and a few Presidents Cups so he's got good experience there. I'm sure he's going to do the best job he can, and I hope he does a great job and finishes second!"
Andy first joined the brand on a month's work experience back in April 2011, and he now assumes the Editor role. When Andy joined GolfMagic it was a small site with potential.
