There have been calls for Tiger Woods to captain the United States Ryder Cup team at Bethpage Black this September, with Keegan Bradley looking set to feature as a player
Calls are growing for Tiger Woods to step in for Keegan Bradley(Image: Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
With Keegan Bradley on course to feature as a player at this September’s Ryder Cup, there have been calls for Tiger Woods to come in as captain, but Laura Davies believes the golfing great will not take on the role.
Talk about Bradley being a playing captain has gone on ever since his appointment, and he only helped his cause when securing victory at the Travelers Championship last weekend. In pipping Tommy Fleetwood to the title, Bradley moved up to seventh in the world rankings, and ninth in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings.
The captain is one of the most in-form American players on the PGA Tour, and if this run continues, he could well become the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer balanced both roles in 1963.
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Of course, he could pass the captaincy on to focus on his playing efforts, with many fans calling on 82-time PGA Tour winner Woods to take over. Four-time major champion Davies, however, believes Woods will not take over, with the responsibility going over to Bradley’s vice-captains instead if he is to play.
“I don’t think Tiger would like to be the captain in those circumstances,” Davies told talkSPORT. “The reason you have those vice captains, and you choose them carefully, is because you know that they can step in if need be, at any given time.
“Jim’s already been the captain once before. I’m assuming his other vice captains are the ones we’ve known before, Freddy Couples, possibly I don’t know who he’s chosen, but I know Jim’s there, and he would be the obvious one for me.”
Keegan Bradley will captain Team USA(Image: Getty Images)
Bradley himself appears more open than ever to taking on both responsibilities, having revealed this was the initial plan of the PGA of America when he was first appointed. Welcoming the opportunity in the aftermath of his victory last Sunday, the 39-year-old said: “I never really planned on playing.
“Now, with the amazing vice-captains I have, I feel a lot more comfortable if I went that route. I had this epiphany at the US PGA Championship when I was getting these loud ‘USA’ cheers.
“I don’t think any player in the history of the game has experienced what I’m experiencing in that I’m a Ryder Cup captain, in my eyes still one of the best players in the world, trying to win majors and tournaments, coming down the stretch of a tournament.”
Davies, however, believes the pressure of having both jobs would prove too much. “I’ve been a vice captain on the Solheim Cup a few times, and I see how much a captain has to do during the week. Obviously, the buildup doesn’t matter, but during the week, there’s so much going on. I don’t think you can play and be a captain.
“I think, at best, he’ll have to rely on one of his vice captains. Probably the obvious ones, Jim Furyk, to kind of take the role of all the press conferences and all the demands on the captain. think it’s good for the European team if he is the playing captain. He should just be a player and maybe let one of the other guys do most of the captaincy.”
