OWINGS MILLS, Md. – With just over a month until the Ryder Cup, U.S. Team Captain Keegan Bradley has not decided whether he will be a playing captain at Bethpage Black.

“We're ready for this if it happens,” Bradley said Wednesday during his pre-tournament press conference at the BMW Championship. “I'm not sure it's going to. I can truly sit here right now and say I don't know what's going to happen. I have to look at myself just like any other player trying to make the team. I'm 10th in points right now, and that's not sixth.”

The decision looms as Bradley’s most consequential since he was offered the captaincy last year. It remained merely a hypothetical for many months. Originally, Bradley outlined a cut-and-dry outlook on his playing hopes. If he reached the top six in the points list and qualified automatically, he would play. If he didn’t, he would just remain captain.

That outlook changed in June when Bradley won the Travelers Championship, outlasting one of the best fields in golf, including almost everyone who will be playing the Ryder Cup next month. Since that omission, the spotlight has fully locked on Bradley’s quest to become the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1961.

Bradley admitted he’s felt that pressure. Since his win at Travelers, the American has struggled to back it up with consistent results, calling into question whether he should have a spot on the team. Bradley tied for 41st at the Rocket Classic and tied for 30th at The Open Championship. He missed the cut at the Wyndham Championship and finished T44 at the FedEx St. Jude Championship last week.

“Things are definitely getting more difficult,” Bradley said, “but it is for everybody on the list of the Ryder Cup. This is when you really start to – you know, when you're trying to get a pick or trying to play your way on the team, you feel like every round's Q-School. It's not just difficult for me; it's difficult for everybody that's trying to make this team.”

Along with that pressure, Bradley’s captaincy duties have ramped up in the last month. The event is no longer a distant thought. The automatic qualifiers lock after this week’s BMW Championship. Bradley’s captain's picks will come shortly after next week’s TOUR Championship. Bradley said he sits up at night and thinks about which golf ball players will use in Foursomes and about possible pairings. He has speeches to plan, a course to set up, and most importantly, players to pick. And one of those players firmly in the mix is himself. It’s a decision that few have ever had to ponder. Tiger Woods did it for the 2019 Presidents Cup, and Bradley said he’s relied on Woods’ advice heavily. But outside of Woods, nobody knows how it will go – good or bad.

Just before Bradley’s press conference, Rory McIlroy spoke about the difficulties he sees in the dual role. He said he turned down offers to do the same at future Ryder Cups. When posed with McIlroy’s comments, Bradley said: “He might be right. We don't know. No one knows.”

“I certainly have a lot of concerns, as well as everybody else,” Bradley said, “but I have the most incredible vice captains, including Jim Furyk, who's been on these teams and been captain a bunch of times. Quite frankly, I've been leaning on them more than any other captain ever anyways, even if I'm not playing.”

Rickie Fowler and Patrick Cantlay gave Bradley a vote of confidence on Tuesday, each going out of their way to say Bradley should be on the team. Even McIlroy said Bradley was one of the 12 best Americans

"I think it would be hard to find really any or many Americans that would argue that point," Fowler said.

"If I was the captain, I'd pick Keegan," Cantlay said.

Bradley could quell any and all speculation about whether he is justified in picking himself with a strong week at the BMW Championship. He played his way onto last year’s Presidents Cup team in large part because he won the BMW Championship at Castle Pines. A similar showing at Caves Valley this week, and those questions likely disappear.

The Ryder Cup almost solely occupies Bradley’s mind when he’s outside the ropes, but when he puts a tee in the ground, he’s focused on his own golf. That’s remained his focus, and, if executed properly, he will find himself playing inside the ropes at the Ryder Cup anyway.