Keegan Bradley can count Michael Jordan as a mentor during his Ryder Cup captaincy. But Bradley isn’t the only one; Bradley’s European counterpart, Luke Donald, is also a close friend of the NBA legend.
Donald first met Jordan over two decades ago, when Donald was a college player at Northwestern. Donald and Jordan had mutual friends, and with Jordan interested in playing golf with great talents, he was eventually connected with the Wildcats star, who won the 1999 NCAA individual title along with two Walker Cups, including the 2001 match at Ocean Forest, one of just two away wins y Great Britain and Ireland in 50 editions.
The European captain now lives in Jupiter, Florida, close to both Jordan and Bradley.
“I think Michael is someone I’ve been very fortunate to get access to and pick his brain occasionally about what made him tick, what motivated him, how he was able to get the best out of himself,” Donald said Tuesday at Bethpage Black. “Michael is also very close to Keegan, and I’m sure Keegan has maybe leaned on MJ a little bit as well over the last year. He’s not going to specifically give me advice this time around, but certainly my friendship over the years I’ve picked up many things. It’s nice to have someone that is a legend of their sport, the greatest ever, quite arguably, to sit down occasionally and pick their brains.”
Donald expounded on a few of Jordan’s inspiring qualities, including some that he picked up on in Jordan’s documentary, “The Last Dance.”
“He was never going to do anything he didn’t ask his teammates to do,” Donald said. “He set the example. He led from the front. He was very passionate about it, and he was very good at breaking down things into smaller manageable goals. One example was he wanted to win the scoring title, and he needed to average something like 38 points a game or something like that, but he just broke it down into quarters and made it simple. I think it’s a good analogy about what that represents.
“But he also taught me that – I think he won four or five scoring titles before he won an NBA championship. You need your teammates around you. You can be a team of champions but not a championship team. You always need the people around you. You’re always stronger being a collective.
“I think that’s something that I certainly took from him, and I’ve tried to implant on my teams the last two times, that we’re always stronger together.”
Jordan is believed to be attending this week’s Ryder Cup on Long Island, and Donald understands if His Airness will be rooting for the home team.
“I think he will have a USA hat on,” Donald said.