{"id":179605,"date":"2025-09-30T07:50:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T07:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/179605\/"},"modified":"2025-09-30T07:50:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T07:50:08","slug":"should-keegan-bradley-run-it-back-ranking-some-options-for-2027-u-s-ryder-cup-captain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/179605\/","title":{"rendered":"Should Keegan Bradley run it back? Ranking some options for 2027 U.S. Ryder Cup captain"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>His second Ryder Cup victory as captain barely finalized, Luke Donald was already being showered on Bethpage\u2019s 18th green with chants of, \u201cTwo more years!\u201d That included several players and even someone from his immediate family. Donald is already the betting favorite to lead a third European team at Adare Manor in 2027, though if he opts to step down, perhaps he\u2019ll take an assistant\u2019s role under Justin Rose, the 45-year-old and six-time Ryder Cupper who starred again in New York but is certainly nearing the end as a competitor. Either way, it\u2019s surely one of those two for Europe.<\/p>\n<p>As for the Americans, there is far more captain uncertainty.<\/p>\n<p>Keegan Bradley is the early favorite to run it back in Ireland in two years, while the group of contenders is crowded behind him. One option that has already been ruled out is Phil Mickelson, who took to social media this weekend to take his name out of the hat, if it was even in the hat because of his move to LIV Golf three years ago.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo rumors,\u201d Mickelson wrote. \u201cMy Ryder Cup involvement is over. I\u2019m happy being a spectator and rooting for Team USA.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s size up some candidates for 2027 U.S. Ryder Cup captain:<\/p>\n<p>1. Keegan Bradley<\/p>\n<p>Bradley and his assistant captains showed some ineptitude with analytics when it came to a few pairings, but where he most went wrong was with the setup. Perhaps it was telling that on Saturday night he said, \u201cI think historically we play faster greens on the PGA Tour than they do.\u201d News flash: Every member of the European team is a full-time PGA Tour (or LIV) member, some for over a decade. It\u2019s almost as if they thought they were still playing the likes of Donald and Lee Westwood; this modern European squad, one loaded with firepower, feasted on a benign Bethpage with little rough. All that said, where Europe has found an advantage is with continuity, from the top down. The U.S. might not have a better option than to run Bradley back, letting him correct mistakes, which, credit to him, he admitted to. The good news is the away captain doesn\u2019t control the setup.<\/p>\n<p>    <a class=\"AnchorLink\" id=\"image-bf0000\"\/><\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" alt=\"Thumbnail\"  width=\"900\" height=\"506\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1759218607_601_\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Woods was the biggest story in 2018 as he returned to action following a fourth back surgery and won his first PGA Tour title since 2013. He\u2019ll look to get back in the win column in the majors in 2019. He\u2019s won 14 of them, four shy of Jack Nicklaus\u2019 record, and he\u2019ll play three major venues this year where he\u2019s won before \u2013 Augusta National (1997, 2001, 2002, 2005), Pebble Beach (2000) and Bethpage Black (2002). Oh, and he\u2019ll captain \u2013 and maybe play on? \u2013 the 2019 U.S. Presidents Cup team in Australia this December.<\/p>\n<p>    2. Tiger Woods<\/p>\n<p>If it\u2019s true that Woods turned down the 2025 captaincy, then perhaps he\u2019d feel the same disinterest in taking for reins in Ireland. But if not, there isn\u2019t another captain who would inspire his players more. Who knows how Woods would do with pairings, but he did just fine in Australia in 2019, and the intimidation factor alone is enough to consider him, especially on enemy soil. Then again, considering Woods\u2019 career Ryder Cup record \u2013 13-21-3 \u2013 is he really that intimidating in this event?<\/p>\n<p>3. Webb Simpson<\/p>\n<p>If I was a betting man, I\u2019d probably put my money behind Simpson. He\u2019s been part of the assistant rotation in Cups, including at Bethpage, and he\u2019s arguably got the most leadership qualities of any realistic candidate. Plus, he was a player on that 2007 U.S. Walker Cup team that snapped a lengthy away drought at Royal County Down. He could get some of that band back together, too, by appointing Rickie Fowler and Billy Horschel as assistants.<\/p>\n<p>4. Steve Stricker<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s been a winning Ryder Cup (2021) and Presidents Cup (2017) captain, so if the U.S. is only concerned about winning, then why not give Stricker a crack at an away game? He\u2019s had some health issues in recent years, so maybe he\u2019s not interested in the stresses and demands of being a captain again, but he\u2019d be a good pick.<\/p>\n<p>5. Brandt Snedeker<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019d likely be higher up this list if not for the fact that he\u2019s set to captain the 2026 U.S. Presidents Cup team at Medinah. But he\u2019ll get to captain a Ryder Cup one day, perhaps as soon as 2029 at Hazeltine.<\/p>\n<p>    <a class=\"AnchorLink\" id=\"image-960000\"\/><\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" alt=\"Thumbnail\"  width=\"900\" height=\"506\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1759218608_84_\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>    6. Jim Furyk<\/p>\n<p>It did not work in Paris in 2018, what makes you think it will somehow pay off at another away Ryder Cup nine years later? Still, he\u2019s by far the most experienced American option, ranking second all-time in matches played and serving twice as a Cup captain (also 2024 Presidents Cup) and four times a Ryder Cup assistant.<\/p>\n<p>7. Kevin Kisner<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s been a Cup assistant twice now and is clearly a team-room favorite because of his personality, but it\u2019s hard to see Kisner\u2019s role expanding right now.<\/p>\n<p>8. Gary Woodland<\/p>\n<p>Got his first spin as an assistant at Bethpage, though he\u2019s likely several Ryder Cups away from a captain\u2019s nod, if he gets one at all.<\/p>\n<p>9. Stewart Cink<\/p>\n<p>Have his Ryder Cup captaincy hopes expired after being dropped as an assistant this year? Cink came out and said he was disappointed that the PGA of America bypassed him in selecting Bradley, so maybe he sees the writing on the wall.<\/p>\n<p>10. Justin Leonard<\/p>\n<p>A true dark horse \u2013 and favorite pick of Golf Channel\u2019s Brandel Chamblee. He\u2019s a Ryder Cup hero as a player (see: 1999 at Brookline), and he might be the closest the U.S. has to a Luke Donald. However, he declined multiple chances at being an assistant in the past, so that may have ruined his chances of ever leading a Ryder Cup team.<\/p>\n<p>11. Paul Azinger<\/p>\n<p>So much of what\u2019s been good about U.S. Ryder Cup teams in the last decade-plus is credited to Azinger, and yet he only led once, in 2008 at Valhalla. Times have changed, yes, but Zinger getting a chance to captain in an away pressure-cooker would, at the very least, be entertaining.<\/p>\n<p>    <a class=\"AnchorLink\" id=\"image-390000\"\/><\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" alt=\"MD Headlines: Tom Watson and Paul McGinley motivate Ryder Cup teams\"  width=\"900\" height=\"506\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1759218608_591_\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>MD Headlines: Tom Watson and Paul McGinley motivate Ryder Cup teams<\/p>\n<p>    12. Tom Watson<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s time for some good, old-fashioned discipline again. He also is the last U.S. captain to win in Europe (1993, The Belfry).<\/p>\n<p>13. Zach Johnson<\/p>\n<p>To quote those New York crowds: Fuhgeddaboudit.<\/p>\n<p>14. Nick Saban<\/p>\n<p>One word: Winner.<\/p>\n<p>15. Scott Scheffler<\/p>\n<p>If Scottie Scheffler hadn\u2019t gone 1-4, the Americans would\u2019ve won at Bethpage. He\u2019s struggled in some of these Cups already, so why not employ his dad to get the most out of the world No. 1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"His second Ryder Cup victory as captain barely finalized, Luke Donald was already being showered on Bethpage\u2019s 18th&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":179606,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-179605","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-golf","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}