Tiger Woods Has a Ryder Cup Captaincy Decision to Make

Woods hasn’t committed yet to the U.S. captaincy for Ireland due to his work with the Tour, and Keegan Bradley can sympathize with how big of a job it is.

Tiger Woods has not made a decision on captaining the 2027 U.S. Ryder Cup team. | Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Tiger Woods is not ready to say if he will be the next U.S. Ryder Cup captain.

And while the previous captain, Keegan Bradley, would very much like Woods to succeed him, he understands why the decision is far from easy.

“It was way more work than I thought it was going to be and there’s also the mental part, constantly thinking about it,” Bradley said Wednesday at Riviera Country Club, where he is playing in this week’s Genesis Invitational. “What you’re going to do, communication. So having been through it ...

“He’s got such a major role with the Tour right now. And I know, as a player, I’m really grateful for all the guys on the board and all the guys who are part of this. So for Tiger or anybody ... you’d want to make sure you give it 100 percent.”

In theory, Bradley has a say in the decision for the 2027 captaincy at Adare Manor in Ireland. As the most recent captain, he is part of a Ryder Cup committee that includes PGA of America executives that will choose the next captain.

He said a debriefing occurred following the U.S. defeat to Europe at Bethpage Black in which he offered ideas and suggestions but did not say if a formal offer has been made to Woods or if there is even a Plan B.

Bradley, 39, was the surprise choice for the role in July 2024 when Woods stalled in making a decision for 2025 and eventually turned it down. Bradley, who had played on two losing Ryder Cup teams, had not been part of the Ryder Cup for 10 years and had never been an assistant captain.

Keegan Bradley was a surprise choice for the 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup team captaincy when Tiger Woods stalled on making a decision to take the job. | Brendan Mcdermid-Reuters via Imagn Images

Woods always seemed destined to be a captain at some point and was a victorious playing captain for the 2019 U.S. Presidents Cup team.

But in the summer of 2023, he was appointed by commissioner Jay Monahan to be one of the player directors on the PGA Tour Policy Board. When a separate board for the for-profit PGA Tour Enterprises was formed in 2024, Woods also became part of that.

And last summer, soon after taking the job as CEO of the PGA Tour, Brian Rolapp appointed Woods to a new Future Competitions Committee.

For a guy who hasn’t played a competitive round of golf since the 2024 British Open, Woods has had plenty to keep him occupied.

“I thought I spent a lot of hours practicing in my prime,” said Woods, host of the Genesis Invitational, which benefits his foundation. “It doesn’t even compare to what we’ve done in the boardroom. It’s been challenging. We’re trying to do the right thing. We’re making some great strides. The player directors have been unbelievable with their time and their focus and the depth of knowledge and perspective. Then we’ve had unbelievable board members that come from all walks of life that are wanting to make our tour better and wanting to make our product better.”

Woods and fellow board members are in the throes of charting a new path for the PGA Tour, which is likely to see significant changes to the schedule and competitive model of the Tour. The 82-time PGA Tour winner who is recovering from October surgery to have a disk replaced is unsure of his competitive return but appears more than busy with his various Tour duties.

And it’s why he has yet to commit to the Ryder Cup.

“They have asked me for my input on it, and I haven’t made my decision yet,” Woods said during his Tuesday news conference. “I’m trying to figure out what we’re trying to do with our Tour. That’s been driving me hours upon hours every day and trying to figure out if I can actually do our Team USA and our players and everyone that’s going to be involved in the Ryder Cup, if I can do it justice with my time.

“Serving on two boards and what I’m doing for the PGA Tour, I’m trying to figure out if I can actually do this and serve the people that are involved and serve them at an honorable level.”

Woods had a behind-the-scenes role with Bradley last year

Bradley said Woods had a bigger behind-the-scenes role in the 2025 Ryder Cup than most outside are aware. And he very much appreciated the input and help.

“I talked to him all the time,” Bradley said. “He was really, really helpful. Somebody that I could lean on. He’s always been really, really great to me going back to my rookie year in 2011. He just always had my back.

“And for me, in the role that I was in, knowing that he was there was great. And he would just call, he would just check in. He was really generous with his time. Really valuable. I don’t really know if I could have done it without his support. It’s really been over the top.”

As for Woods taking on the role of captain, Bradley said: “I think it’s a really important thing for us.”

But whether he will or not remains a mystery.

Europe has also not named its 2027 captain as two-time winning captain Luke Donald is mulling a return for a third try.

The U.S. captain would typically be decided in the spring but the PGA of America said it has no timetable for an announcement.