The 2027 Ryder Cup in Ireland is still 18 months away, but the build-up has already started, and Luke Donald’s reappointment as European skipper last week got the ball rolling.
For the USA, meanwhile, it’s something of a waiting game as Tiger Woods hums and haws over the job offer. Procrastination is the thief of time, Tiger m’lad.
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A decade ago, Tiger became vice captain
It’s been 10 years since Woods first played a very different role in the Ryder Cup. Having made his debut as a competitor in 1997, Tiger was a non-playing vice-captain at Hazeltine in 2016.
This most individual of individuals relished a more subservient position, too. Greats like Hogan, Palmer and Nicklaus never performed the assisting job, but this other golfing great embraced it with gusto.
Team USA player Jordan Spieth and Vice-Captain Tiger Woods during a practice round ahead of the 41st Ryder Cup.
“Tiger, can you take those turkey sandwiches out to the boys on the 10th, please?” It was certainly not a chore you would’ve envisaged him doing in his pomp.
But those were the kind of myriad tasks that were part and parcel of being a vice-captain. From informant to confidant, cheerleader to deliverer of packed lunches, Woods was doing everything that week apart from hitting shots as he reinvented himself as a mentor to many of the younger American players.
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Woods was always going to be the U.S. captain at some point. He would certainly savor the position too but, a decade on, we are still waiting to see if he’ll finally take it on.
He mulled over an offer to be skipper in 2025 before finally saying no. Should he respond with another no to the 2027 job, then goodness knows where the PGA of America turns. Donald Trump?
More: Tiger Woods hasn’t made decision on 2027 U.S. Ryder Cup captaincy
American succession plan lacks clarity
Unlike the Europeans, who move along with cohesion and clarity, the USA’s approach to succession planning remains pretty slapdash.
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In 2014, when Tom Watson’s nostalgia-driven appointment and old-school tactics at Gleneagles ultimately ended in dismal defeat and bitter recriminations, the PGA of America set up an instantly mockable Task Force to sort things out.
Calling on just about everything from past players, past captains, past Presidents, songs from the Old West and the ghost of John Wayne, this new all-embracing approach was going to transform U.S. fortunes in the biennial bout.
Instead of disarray, there was grinning talk of harmony and unity. They won the cup back in 2016, but the egos landed again in 2018 during another lamentable defeat in Paris.
For the 2025 match, the PGA of America phoned Keegan Bradley out of the blue and asked him to do it after Woods had declined.
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More: Ryder Cup future locations include Adare Manor, Hazeltine, Olympic Club
The latest ‘will he, won’t he’ situation surrounding Woods is hardly ideal and the stumbling block, of course, is time. The 50-year-old is currently embroiled in seemingly endless discussions as chairman of the PGA Tour’s future competition committee as the circuit plans for a major overhaul of its schedule.
“I thought I spent a lot of hours practicing in my prime, but it doesn’t even compare to what we’ve done in the boardroom,” Woods recently said of these all-consuming commitments.
It seems almost ridiculous that this administrative work should get in the way of the Ryder Cup captaincy. Yes, he has vast experience and influence, which can help shape the tour moving forward. But Woods is still a golfer, not a chief executive.
Team Europe captain Luke Donald reacts after defeating Team USA on the final day of competition for the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.
Luke Donald set to make history in third captaincy
Donald, after two very different victories as European captain in 2023 and 2025, is now planning to become the first skipper to win three in a row. In a sense, he is putting his reputation on the line.
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Woods, meanwhile, has never been one to shy away from a challenge – and my goodness, there have been plenty of those down the years – and the chance to thwart Donald’s historic quest, while plotting a first USA away win since 1993, must surely rouse his senses.
In its 100th year, the Ryder Cup would no doubt be roused too by Woods’ presence. We await the next twist in Tiger’s tale.
(Nick Rodger is a longtime golf contributor to the Scotland Herald, part of USA Today Co.)
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Tiger Woods’ Ryder Cup captaincy decision for 2027 looms
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