Ryder Cup 2025: Shane Lowry says fan abuse of Erica McIlroy at Bethpage Black was \u2018astonishing\u2019<\/a><\/p>\nWe\u2019ll give you minute to roll that around in your noggin\u2026 done? OK, let\u2019s begin at the obvious starting point:<\/p>\n
Lou Holtz.<\/p>\n
Holtz is a college football legend in America. He remains the only modern coach to lead Notre Dame to a national title\u2026 but that was in 1988. By the time next Ryder Cup rolls around, Holtz will be 90 years old. He hasn\u2019t 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\u2019s living in.<\/p>\n
However, if we take Holtz, or Mickelson\u2019s 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\u2019t resonating, so what if the US brought in someone from outside golf\u2019s echo chamber \u2013 someone with a history of success in team sports who has proven they can manage big individual egos?<\/p>\n
\u201cCoach K\u201d 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\u2019s 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\u2019re not alone.<\/p>\n
It would be a longshot and would require significant involvement from the assistant captains when it comes to the nuts-and-bolts of matchplay golf, but big problems call for big ideas, and this is a whopper. Whether or not it\u2019s a good, or even realistic, pitch is another story, but what\u2019s left to lose? Another Ryder Cup?<\/p>\n
FULL\u00a0GOLF DIGEST RYDER CUP COVERAGE HERE<\/a><\/p>\n