Who Will Be the Next American Ryder Cup Captain? Let's Speculate.

The Ryder Cup captaincy as a whole needs to be rethought. We’ve gone down a lot of lanes over the years with who leads these teams, but the main issue seems to be the creativity around who can lead and how they can lead. Considering what just happened on home soil, it felt like a good time to totally rethink the 2027 captain and who might fit best in that role (and who would get the players to buy in and listen).

So here goes, a list that goes all over the place.

Most Likely

Tiger Woods

I think this is the most likely captain for Adare Manor in 2027. Before LIV came around, the PGA of America was preparing for a Phil-Tiger run of captains with Mickelson manning the ship at Bethpage Black in 2025 and Tiger jumping into the position in ’27. Considering Tiger’s long-term friendship with Irish billionaire and Adare Manor owner J.P. McManus, it only makes more sense that this particular Ryder Cup would be the scene of Tiger’s first captaincy in this event (Tiger, of course, was the playing captain for the Americans at the 2019 Presidents Cup in Australia that the Americans won 16-14).

The interesting subplot of a Tiger captaincy is the rumors of how much Woods wants to invest his time into the process. As we’ve seen on the European side, being a successful Ryder Cup captain means the person in charge takes this as an almost full-time job and Tiger doesn’t seem that interested in all the background responsibilities that come with such a gig. So, if Tiger is named captain, I think it’ll be imperative that he surrounds himself with the right people who could do all the day-to-day operational stuff (and do it successfully) to allow Tiger to be excited and interested in the parts of the job that he could thrive in.

Unlikely But Should Be Considered

Sean McVay

Young, cool, motivating and relatable to a lot of the golfers in the room. Which golfer isn’t sitting on the edge of their seat ready to run through a wall as McVay is delivering a message the night before Friday foursomes?

Athletes love other athletes in other sports. It’s a little bit of that musician/actor situation where every musician wants to be an actor and every actor wants to be a musician. You see the other side and long for that ability and that stage.

Considering how much golf other professional athletes play these days and how golf has taken off in this space (think Michael Jordan, Tony Romo, Josh Allen, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Steph Curry, Caitlin Clark and even LeBron James as of late), I think the current American golfer would be willing to listen and would buy into the idea of someone like McVay leading the charge.

The issue, of course, is that McVay has a full-time job in a pretty important market, but these are ideas after all. Maybe he leaves the Rams at some point or steps away from the NFL for a few years in the near future. If that’s the case, this could be a fun role to jump into and try to evolve and change, much like we saw with USA Basketball when Coach K took over.

Michelle Wie West

Very smart, very connected and someone who knows what it is like to be in these types of rooms. Michelle was one of those golfers who found her best self inside the confines of the Solheim Cup and could invest the amount of time needed to totally revamp the way things are done on the men’s side of things.

Phil Mickelson

There was a time in golf where Phil was beloved by fans and liked by his peers, and has a unique way of getting people to buy into his, let's call it, bullshit? It feels like Mickelson was born to be both a golf analyst on television and a Ryder Cup captain and it stinks if we lose both of those opportunities because of a rival golf league that popped up during a weak period in our sport.

It also doesn’t help that Phil responded to a tweet on Saturday saying he is done with the Ryder Cup, but again, Phil has said a lot of things in his career. Who knows with this fella?

Nick Saban

I mean, he has the time. He doesn’t deal with any BS. He would attack this thing like he would a new opportunity in college football. He has pals on the team already in Justin Thomas and some upcoming potential ‘Bama golfers like Nick Dunlap. He can also wear the hell out of a straw hat, which would look epic as he cruises around Adare Manor in a golf cart.

I could see Saban being the king of bringing the right people in with the right messages for the Americans as they inch closer to the start of 2027. I also think something Saban would be great at is something that doesn’t get talked about enough; wasting zero energy and time on things players don’t need and having them focus on actually preparing to play great golf.

Juli Inkster

She’s one of the coolest people I’ve ever met or worked with in golf and she’s worked this role at the Solheim Cup.

I would love to see Juli get a nod. I don’t know if she’d want the job, but I do know she’d work as hard as anyone in this position to get everything ready and dialed for those three days of competition.

Juli is a dog and men’s American golf needs more dogs.

Dan Rooney

Could you imagine bringing in a symbol of what it means to truly be an American to lead the USA at a Ryder Cup, especially one on the road? Dan has been involved in Ryder Cups in the past but to give him the reins of this thing would be taking the whole concept of country to another level.

He knows how to motivate and he would be more prepared than just about anyone on the planet in terms of getting the most out of his players. If the idea of captaincy moving forward is to swerve, this would be one of the coolest swerves available.

Phil Jackson

The king of thinking outside the box coaching. Phil would be so good at learning about each player and thinking of ways to get the most out of every single one of them.

No Chance It Happens But Would Definitely Be Fun

Steph Curry

Well, we leaned into an active player in golf to captain this year and it didn’t go well so why not lean into an active player in another sport that could bring a fresh perspective?

It doesn’t hurt that Curry is a helluva golfer and at least understands the sport at a level most people around golf do not (outside of the pros and competitive amateurs).

Curry has been around so many amazing coaches and voices throughout his whole life that his ability to channel the likes of Steve Kerr and Coach K, to name a couple, would come out in his approach to motivation.

Plus, the crowds and fans would absolutely love this and no matter the level of criticism, nothing a golfer is going to face would reach anything that someone like Curry has dealt with in his career.

Last thing; could you imagine the celebrations between players and coaches? Scottie Scheffler makes a 40-footer for eagle and does the Kobe move over in Curry’s direction?

Michael Phelps

Who better to lead the Americans than the most decorated Olympian of all-time? Phelps loves golf, knows a lot of the guys and would likely be one of those types of people to jump 100 percent into the role.

Who knows how it would go, but it would definitely draw interest into the event from non-golf people and would shine a light on a guy who has been incredibly important to American sport over the last 20 years.

Michael Jordan

Hell, he’s already there, why not give the man an earpiece and see if he can get guys to lay down their egos for the betterment of the team? If you’ve watched “The Last Dance,” you know that a big part of the early successes of those Bulls teams was Jordan being less individual and more focused on team and that is exactly what Team USA needs in these Ryder Cups. Plus, we’d get the hilarious anticipation of the outfits Jordan would pick for the players.