US team 'better with Bradley playing' - McIlroy

Will Rory McIlroy and Keegan Bradley compete on the course at Bethpage Black in September?

Rory McIlroy says this year's US Ryder Cup team would be "definitely" be enhanced by captain Keegan Bradley playing.

World number seven Bradley is ninth in the US team rankings, with the top six gaining automatic qualification for the event in September.

And he said he would have a "hard look" at whether he should play at Bethpage, New York after his dramatic victory in the Travelers Championship in June.

A further six players are chosen via captain's picks and 39-year-old Bradley - who was overlooked by Zach Johnson two years ago - could theoretically pick himself.

Twelve months after saying it would be "absolutely not" be possible to combine playing with the captaincy, McIlroy – a talisman of the European team – now awaits an "interesting" conclusion to the US selection process.

"Hopefully it is impossible!" he said, laughing, after his second round at the Scottish Open.

"Keegan's played great and he's had a really good year. It's going to be interesting to see what the US team does with that.

"I definitely think the US team is better with Keegan playing than not playing. He's one of the best 12 American players right now.

"It's going to be an interesting couple of months to see how that all shakes out."

Bradley was named captain after Tiger Woods turned down the opportunity.

He has insisted he would not give up the role if he did make the team but could take on a dual role with the help of vice-captains Webb Simpson, Brandt Snedeker, Kevin Kisner and Jim Furyk.

There has been no Ryder Cup player-captain since 1963 when Arnold Palmer led the US team.

'Americans had no-one to look to in Rome'

McIlroy believes the "player-led" dynamic of the US team is in striking contrast to the European side led by Luke Donald.

Having captained Europe to an empathic win in Rome two years ago, Englishman Donald remains at the helm for the attempt at a first win on US soil since the 2012 Miracle of Medinah.

McIlroy said: "I think they give the captaincy a different perspective. It really feels like it's a player-led team in America.

"Obviously, we have our input as players on the European team. But but we do have that one figurehead in Luke. That's important.

"In Rome, when the Americans got off to a pretty rough start, because Zach gave the team so much ownership, they had nowhere or no one to look to.

"They were looking at each other instead of having a focal point to be like, 'Okay, tell us what to do.'

"That is something Europe has done very, very well. But also the players have allowed the captain to be the captain as well."