Keegan Bradley has reportedly been handed a major boost in his hopes of being a playing captain at the Ryder Cup.
The Team USA skipper has suggested he could tee it up at Bethpage Black in September.
It would make the 39-year-old the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963.
On that occasion, Team USA cruised to a dominant 23-9 victory at East Lake in Atlanta, Georgia.
Bradley’s chances of emulating the golf legend have now increased after the latest Ryder Cup development.
According to The Telegraph, Team Europe captain Luke Donald has agreed to a key clause proposal for the event.
The rule change will allow a vice-captain to give on-course advice to players.
It paves the way for Bradley to select himself as one of six captain’s picks.
The former PGA Championship winner is currently outside of the automatic qualification spots in 10th.
Players have until the end of next month’s BMW Championship to guarantee themselves a place on Team USA.
World number one Scottie Scheffler is the only American player to so far do so ahead of this year’s tournament.
Meanwhile, Bradley’s impressive recent form has caused a desire for him to take part of the first time in 11 years.
His victory at the Travelers Championship back in June was his eighth career victory on the PGA Tour.
Bradley is also fresh from finishing tied for 30th at The Open Championship over the weekend.
Addressing the decision last week, he said: “I’ve been playing some pretty good golf – but so have a lot of other Americans.
“If I was sitting here without being captain then making this team would be my number one goal – that doesn’t change with me being captain.
“I would be sitting here thinking ‘I’m right there and have a great chance of making the team’.”
The last of his two previous Ryder Cup appearances came back in 2014 after missing out two years ago.
talkSPORT.com's Ryder Cup team predictions
Team USA
Automatic qualifiers
- Scottie Scheffler (Qualification confirmed)
- Xander Schauffele
- JJ Spaun
- Russell Henley
- Bryson DeChambeau
- Harris English
Captain’s picks
- Justin Thomas
- Collin Morikawa
- Keegan Bradley (player captain)
- Ben Griffin
- Patrick Cantlay
- Sam Burns
Team Europe
Automatic qualifiers
- Rory McIlroy (Qualification confirmed)
- Tommy Fleetwood
- Tyrrell Hatton
- Robert MacIntyre
- Shane Lowry
- Sepp Straka
Captain’s picks
- Justin Rose
- Jon Rahm
- Viktor Hovland
- Ludvig Aberg
- Matt Fitzpatrick
- Rasmus Hojgaard
Bradley was overlooked by captain Zach Johnson, who instead selected the lower-ranked trio of Sam Burns, Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas to make up his team.
This time around, the world number seven will make the decision, with five vice-captains on hand to support him at Bethpage.
Webb Simpson, Brandt Snedeker, Kevin Kisner, Jim Furyk and Gary Woodland have been named as Bradley’s vice-captains.
Meanwhile, Donald will once again be assisted by Thomas Bjorn, Edoardo Molinari and Jose Maria Olazabal.