Following a 2025 Ryder Cup performance that would have gone down as one of the worst of all-time if not for a late-Sunday surge, U.S. fans all seem to agree on one thing:
The U.S. Ryder Cup ecosystem, from the course setup to the captaincy, needs a ground-up rebuild.
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One prevailing opinion in the fallout from Bethpage is that Phil Mickelson—who many believed to be a shoe-in for the captaincy in 2025 before his move to LIV Golf—could be just the man to lead that charge. The only problem? Phil Mickelson has a much, MUCH wilder idea, one that may not include him at all. Read it and weep.
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We’ll give you minute to roll that around in your noggin … done? OK, let’s begin at the obvious starting point:
Lou Holtz.
Holtz is a college football legend. He remains the only modern coach to lead Notre Dame to a national title … but that was in 1988. By the time next Ryder Cup rolls around, Holtz will be 90 years old. He hasn’t coached in any capacity since 2004 and has courted controversy with ill-advised comments multiple times in the years since. Clearly, Holtz is not viable candidate for the position, and we have some very real questions about what year Mickelson thinks he’s living in.
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However, if we take Holtz, or Mickelson’s other recommendation, former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, as merely an example, the suggestion holds a lot more water. Or at least we can see the logic. The voices from within clearly aren’t resonating, so what if the U.S. brought in someone from outside golf’s echo chamber—someone with a history of success in team sports who has proven they can manage big individual egos?
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Coach K is a particularly fascinating example in this regard. Krzyzewski won two Olympic gold medals and one FIBA World Championship gold as the coach of the USA men’s basketball team between 2008 and 2013, finding a way to make of roster of larger-than-life stars including Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and James Harden gel as a team. If that sounds like the perfect leader for an obscenely-talented-but-underperforming Ryder Cup squad including the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas, then you’re not alone.
It would be a longshot and would require significant involvement from the assistant captains when it comes to the nuts-and-bolts of match-play golf, but big problems call for big ideas, and this is a whopper. Whether or not it’s a good, or even realistic, pitch is another story, but what’s left to lose? Another Ryder Cup?
