Rory McIlroy is eyeing a potential Ryder Cup captaincy, but not anytime soon.<\/p>\n
McIlroy, speaking at a news conference on Wednesday ahead of playing in the DP World India Championship, praised former European captains who stood out to him during his time playing. However, he dismissed any narrative that his captaincy would come in the next two years, hoping he would still be playing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbsolutely, I would love to be a captain one day and I feel very fortunate that I\u2019ve had a front-row seat playing under some of the best captains in history in the Ryder Cup,\u201d McIlroy said, name-checking Paul McGinley \u2014 the winning 2014 skipper \u2014 and Luke Donald, who led Europe in the last two matches.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019d say not until the mid-2030s, hopefully, if I can keep playing well.\u201d<\/p>\n
McIlroy, 36, is playing this week for the first time since helping Europe hold off the United States 15-13<\/a> last month to retain the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in New York. McIlroy\u2019s comment comes two months after a dilemma arose over the United States\u2019 Keegan Bradley possibly choosing himself<\/a> to play during his captaincy. Bradley didn\u2019t, but he and McIlroy engaged in a bit of a war of words over whether or not it was even possible.<\/p>\n McIlroy is pondering the captaincy for when his career is winding down, when the five-time major champion and newest member of the career Grand Slam club is no longer able to play at that level.<\/p>\n \u201cCertainly not 2027, I hope I\u2019m still playing at that point. But I would love to be the European team captain at some point,\u201d McIlroy told reporters<\/a>. \u201cBut that will be beyond my playing days, or at least when my playing days are coming to an end and I\u2019m not good enough to make the team or I make way for the new generation to come along. Hopefully, that\u2019s not in 2027.\u201d<\/p>\n Members of the European team have been outspoken in encouraging Donald to return as the European captain for 2027 at Ireland\u2019s Ardare Manor. He would be the first three-time captain since Tony Jacklin held the role for four straight Cup cycles in the 1980s. Donald has time to make a decision \u2014 traditionally, captains are not announced until the first half of the year following the Ryder Cup.<\/p>\n