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Why Tiger Woods might already be on the shortlist for captain of Team USA at the 2027 Ryder Cup.
There’s no denying Team USA is at a major crossroads when it comes to the Ryder Cup, and Tiger Woods might be the man tasked with turning things around.
The Americans, who once dominated the event, have struggled since continental Europe got involved. Team USA has lost 11 of the last 15 Ryder Cups, including the 2025 showdown, an embarrassing home loss at Bethpage Black.
Now, as the Americans reshuffle the deck ahead of the 2027 Ryder Cup at Adare Manor in Ireland, some believe Woods is the right man to help Team USA earn its first win on foreign soil since 1993.
“Tiger captain in 2027. Book it,” four-time European Ryder Cup team member Graeme McDowell tweeted during the Bethpage bloodbath.
Can Tiger Woods Solve Team USA’s Ryder Cup Problem?
McDowell’s not alone in that thinking, either. Woods seemed like a logical choice to run the show for 2025 on Long Island. Instead, Woods took his name out of the running a little more than a year before the competition. Woods, in a statement from July 2024, cited his “new responsibilities to the Tour and time commitments involved, I felt like I would not be able to commit the time to Team USA and the players required as a captain.”
So, as a pivot, the PGA of America handed the keys to … full-time PGA Tour player Keegan Bradley.
“What the PGA of America did putting Keegan Bradley (as captain) was emblematic of everything that is wrong with Team USA,” Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner said on his podcast this week. “Like, ‘Let’s just try something different,’ where their opponents for the last two decades plus are all about continuity, consistency, communication and clarity.
” … You would think moving forward to 2027, the first and only call should be to Tiger Woods. Give him a six- to eight-year contract and say ‘Hey man, we need you to help lead Team USA.’”
It’s an understandable button to want to push. Woods is arguably the greatest golfer of all time and the most popular player the sport has ever seen. He would make the Ryder Cup an even bigger deal, but is that what the Americans really need? The 2025 Ryder Cup was billed as the biggest golf event of all time — and we saw how that turned out.
And it’s not like Woods is a Ryder Cup cheat code. Of all the insane Woods stats, the hardest to believe might be his teams went just 1-7 in the Ryder Cup. He went 9-19-1 in team play and 4-2-2 in singles, an unsurprising split for the notoriously self-centered Woods.
There’s some credence to the idea that the best players make the worst coaches.
As you get better and better at what you do, your ability to communicate your understanding or to help others learn that skill often gets worse and worse,” Dr. Sian Beilock wrote for Pyschology Today.
Woods did, for what it’s worth, captain Team USA to a win (as a playing captain) at the 2019 Presidents Cup.
Woods’ Undeniable Claim to Adare Manor
Here’s the wild card, though: The 2027 Ryder Cup is being played at Adare Manor in Ireland. Adare Manor is owned by Irish businessman JP McManus. He and Woods are great friends, and Woods on multiple occasions has played McManus’ pro-am at Adare Manor.
“And when the Open Championship would roll around each year, Woods would make his way to Ireland to sharpen his links game in advance, with McManus reportedly on-hand to make Woods feel right at home over a bottle of red in the evening,” John Craven wrote for Irish Golfer in 2022.
Woods also called McManus “one of my dearest friends.”
So, with the arguably biggest golfing event coming to town for easily the most important tournament in the resort’s history, Woods almost certainly has to be involved, right?
For better or worse, all the signs are pointed to Woods getting the call in 2027.
Mike Cole Mike Cole covers golf as well as the Baltimore Ravens and Tennessee Titans for Heavy.com. He previously worked at NESN where he covered Boston sports (and much more) for 15 years. More about Mike Cole
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