Tiger Woods will almost certainly be offered the position as the next U.S. Ryder Cup captain, with plenty of questions surrounding such an appointment in the aftermath of another U.S. defeat.
Does he even want the job? Is he capable of doing it in this climate? Can he make a decision sooner rather than later?
It was Woods’s stalling on the offer to captain the 2025 team in the spring and summer of 2024 that led to the surprising decision to offer the job—without even an interview—to Keegan Bradley in July of last year.
Although Bradley has endured criticism in the wake of the 15–13 defeat at Bethpage—every losing captain does, it seems—he was hailed by those in and around the team for the way he approached the job and his attention to every detail.
“Everybody loved him,” said one official associated with the U.S. side. “He did almost nothing wrong, everything, every detail leading up to the Ryder Cup. The players all bought in.”
Keegan Bradley has endured criticism after the U.S. loss but within the team he was respected. / Paul Childs-Reuters via Imagn Images
Some of Bradley’s pairings will be nitpicked, but the bottom line is his top players in terms of matches played—Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Cantlay—went a combined 3–10–2. They were a combined 2–9–1 in the team matches. That is difficult to overcome.
So there is some sentiment to bring Bradley back, with the players recognizing he’s not to blame and having now gained this valuable experience.
Here’s the problem with that: Bradley put his own game in peril—and somehow played some of the best golf of his career—while taking on the duties. At 39, he’d love to play in another Ryder Cup. Does he want to sacrifice that again?
Bradley has not commented on any of those possibilities so far.
Which brings us back to Woods, who turns 50 in December and is a no-brainer for the position based on career accolades.
Of the American players in history to win five major championships or more, the only ones not to be a U.S. captain are still-active Brooks Koepka (five), Phil Mickelson (six), Gene Sarazen (seven) and Bobby Jones (seven).
In fact, of the six players in history to win the most major championships, only Woods and Gary Player—who as a South African was not eligible—have not captained a team.
The others—Jack Nicklaus (two), Walter Hagen (six), Ben Hogan (three) and Tom Watson (two)—did it a minimum of two times as a captain. And there has always been talk of Woods doing more than one.
Jones never played in a Ryder Cup. Sarazen played in six, coinciding with Hagen, who captained the first six U.S. teams. Mickelson’s plight is more complicated due to the fallout from his move to LIV Golf.
He recently said on social media that he was not interested, trying to tamp down speculation that he should be considered in 2027. But long before the LIV move, Mickelson was leery of the role. Despite all the chatter that Mickelson was to be the captain at Bethpage this year, the 12-time Ryder Cup player was never all that keen on taking on the position.
No rumors. My Ryder Cup involvement is over. I’m happy being a spectator and rooting for Team USA 👍
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) September 28, 2025
In a social media post, Mickelson suggested that the U.S. blow up its system and put someone like former Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski or former Notre Dame football coach in charge. (Never mind that Krzyzewski 78 and Holtz is 88.)
“The Europeans have a template that teaches and prepared their captains for these skills,” Mickelson wrote. “U.S. has a new template every two years with little continuity.
“If a Coach K or Lou Holtz or someone similar took over, would it be built upon or would it be scrapped and start over again afterwards? If that’s the case, it would be a waste of time and effort and not worth doing it to begin with.”
Interestingly, Mickelson was part of the “Ryder Cup Task Force” that was formed in the aftermath of the 2014 loss at Gleneagles. So was Woods. Together with others, they put in place a system that would see assistant captains nurtured for the captaincy while also working in concert with the Presidents Cup.
It’s why Davis Love was brought back as captain in 2016 and was the captain for the 2022 Presidents Cup. It’s why Jim Furyk, who was the 2018 captain, has been a part of every U.S. team in some capacity dating to 1997 when he played in his first. He was the 2024 Presidents Cup captain—which Bradley played on—and assisted this year.
That template was—somewhat—broken this year. Bradley had never been an assistant captain. He hadn’t played in the Ryder Cup since 2014. And he named two assistants, Gary Woodland and Kevin Kisner, who had never played in a Ryder Cup.
Are those reasons why the U.S. lost? Not directly. But the American side does likely need to do a deep dive and come up with some answers.
All of which makes a Woods captaincy somewhat problematic. Due to injury, he didn’t play in any PGA Tour events this year. He didn’t attend the Champions Dinner at the Masters. He was never amongst the players.
He cited his duties as a member of the PGA Tour Policy Board for passing on the job this time. Wouldn’t those get in the way again? Will he play more to try and be around more? If not, will he attend events?
Also the idea of a captain just showing up is, obviously, not ideal. Woods is revered and can expect buy-in and players wanting to play for him. But there are no guarantees. Nicklaus lost a Ryder Cup as captain (and lost a Presidents Cup). So did Lee Trevino. Nick Faldo, one of Europe’s greatest players, lost as a Ryder Cup captain.
Those are clearly questions that would need to be asked, and amazingly for someone of Woods’s stature, perhaps his appointment is not the slam dunk you’d expect. Doesn’t he need to commit to the process? Does he need to be an assistant for Brandt Snedeker next year at the Presidents Cup?
Woods, who played on just one winning U.S. side, was famously dismissive of the event early in his career. After winning his first match in 1997 with Mark O’Meara, he never had a winning record in the competition again, going 1–3–1 that year. He was 13–21–3 overall.
But as time went on, Woods got involved behind the scenes. His task force role was one clue. He served as an assistant to Love in 2016, assisted Steve Stricker at the 2017 Presidents Cup then played on the 2018 Ryder Cup team before being a playing captain at the 2019 Presidents Cup, which the U.S won and where Woods went 3–0
Since then, he has not been involved publicly, although Bradley said he was a help to him. He was also prominent in discussions when Stricker—the only U.S. Ryder Cup captain to have not won a major championship in 2021—had the role.
Then there is his friendship with J.P. McManus, the owner of Adare Manor, site of the 2027 Ryder Cup. That is said to be a factor in Woods’s decision.
So, too, could the idea of there being less pressure. The U.S. has not won in Europe since 1993, when Woods was in high school and had yet to win the first of his three U.S. Amateur titles. He could be the one to break that streak, and be lauded for it.
But it seems there needs to be some buy-in from him, too.
Helping there is the fact that the PGA of America hired a “manager” in the spring of 2024, caddie-turned-broadcaster John Wood. At the time, Wood said: “Depending on the captain, I think there will be things I can be a sounding board on long before the assistants are chosen. And I think I will be able to plan ahead more, especially from a year out.”
Caddie-turned-broadcaster John Wood could take some things off Tiger Woods’s plate if he were captain. / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
Wood, who caddied in six Ryder Cups, has a good relationship with Woods. In theory, he could take some of the burden off the captain, which is part of the reason for the position being created.
The PGA of America has a Ryder Cup committee that consists of three PGA of America officials as well as Zach Johnson, the previous captain, and players Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth. They were involved in choosing Bradley.
In theory, Bradley would take Johnson’s spot on that committee. PGA of America CEO Derek Sprague would also be involved, as would Thomas, most likely.
It seems a decision will be made sooner rather than later, perhaps before the end of the year but not long into the start of 2026.
Let the speculation continue.
Dustin Johnson sparked memories of his not-too-distant past when he played in the Dunhill Links Championship last week and opened the tournament at Carnoustie with a score of 8-under-par 64.
While that sparked some ill-informed opinions that perhaps Johnson could have helped this year’s U.S. Ryder Cup team, it was yet a reminder of his immense talent skill that fell off this year.
Dustin Johnson teed it up at the Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland and said he’d love to be part of a Ryder Cup team again. / David Cannon/Getty Images
Johnson went 5–0 during the U.S. Ryder Cup victory in 2021 at Whistling Straits. He is 12–9 across five appearances. Of course, he’d be a boon to a team if his game is worthy. Same could be said for Brooks Koepka, who was missing this year after a poor season with LIV Golf.
Of course, Johnson—who is well-liked by his peers and would be a great addition—wishes he could be part of it again.
“I’d love to,” Johnson told reporters in Scotland when asked about the Ryder Cup. “I wanted to be there [at Bethpage]. I just need to play a little better. But I finally feel like I have my game coming back into form. I’ve got a lot more confidence in it and I am starting to swing it well again. I went through about a year where I just wasn’t swinging at it very well. But I feel I am now starting to hit a lot of nice shots and feel a lot more consistent.”
Johnson 41, the winner of two major titles, has not won a LIV event since early in the 2024 season (he has three total and won the individual title in 2022). He missed the cut in three major championships this year and had just two top-five finishes in the LIV Golf League, although one was the last individual event. He finished 14th in the team standings.
That record was not going to get Johnson picked by captain Keegan Bradley, who made clear that LIV Golf was not a barrier to him picking the best players.
The Dunhill Links was the first time this year that Johnson played an event outside of LIV and the major championships. He’s also scheduled to play in the International Series Philippines later this month, where a number of LIV Golf players are expected to participate.
Meanwhile, LIV Golf has yet to announce how players can earn their way onto the tour either via the International Series or via their Promotions event, which also has not been noted. Last year, just one player came through both.
Currently, Scott Vincent leads the International Series standings, followed by Lucas Herbert—who already plays for LIV—and Wayne Ormsby, who on Sunday won the IS event in Jakarta. There are four more events on the schedule.
