Tiger Woods has turned down the captaincy role in the US Ryder Cup for next year’s tournament in Bethpage Black, according to a report.
It was announced Monday morning that the PGA of America would name the captain of Team USA for the 2025 Ryder Cup on Tuesday at noon ET. Many fans were hoping that the 15-time major winner had finally accepted the role.
However, their hopes were quickly dashed when the 48-year-old turned down the chance to lead the Americans in next year’s clash with Europe in New York, according to The Telegraph.
It is believed Woods was willing to accept the role if the PGA of America scaled back standard captaincy requirements ahead of the tournament.
However, the golf legend, who previously captained the US in the 2019 Presidents Cup, and the organization could not reach a compromise.
Tiger Woods has turned down the USA Ryder Cup captaincy for next year’s tournament
Their European counterparts confirmed in November that Luke Donald would return to his position, after leading Rory McIlroy and co. to a 16.5-11.5 victory in Rome last year.
And with just over a year to go before the US takes on Europe again, the American PGA has reportedly decided to go elsewhere.
Fred Couples, Stewart Cink and Davis Love III are reportedly in contention to succeed Zach Johnson.
Woods previously expressed doubts about his willingness to take on the role in May, saying his involvement in golf’s troubled merger negotiations was an obstacle to his participation in next year’s match with Europe in New York.
He was a driving force behind the protracted merger negotiations between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and was reluctant to add Ryder Cup captaincy duties to his remit when asked ahead of the PGA Championship in May.
“I put so much time into what we do with the PGA Tour, I don’t want to neglect the role of captain if I can’t do it,” Woods said at Valhalla.
“What all that entails, representing the American team and the commitments to the PGA of America, the players and the fans, I have to feel like I can give it the amount of time that it deserves.”
Seth Waugh, CEO of the PGA of America, said at the time that the committee respected Woods’ commitment to his duties and recounted extensive discussions with the golf icon.
It is believed that Woods was willing to accept if the captaincy duties were reduced
Europe confirmed in December that Luke Donald would return for a second term
“We’ve been in discussions for months,” Waugh said ahead of the PGA Championship.
“We’ve also had conversations with the Ryder Cup committee, multiple conversations about potential captains and a list of potential captains. You know, Tiger, he’s been pretty clear.
“I think we all know he can be quite focused, and that’s one of his many superpowers: the ability to dig in and make decisions.
“And he doesn’t do anything that he doesn’t fully support, and we totally respect that. And he’s very busy at the moment. He’s obviously very active on the PGA Tour side of things (in their negotiations with the Saudi backers of the LIV circuit).”
2009 Open winner Cink is said to be the favorite, but with the showdown taking place in front of a notoriously boisterous New York crowd, the PGA of America could opt for a bigger name in the box office to live up to expectations.
Couples has captained three U.S. Presidents Cup teams and has been vice-captain of the Ryder Cup three times. However, he has never captained a Ryder Cup team.
Love III has the most recent experience of the three contenders, having led the U.S. to victory over Trevor Immelman’s International team at the 2022 Presidents Cup in Quail Hollow.
Phil Mickelson could be a strong contender for the captaincy at Bethpage Black, where he is adored by the New York crowd and is a strong advocate for hosting the Ryder Cup.
2009 Open champion Stewart Cink is seen as the favorite to captain the US.
Fred Couples (left) and Davis Love III (right) are also considered contenders for the role
But he himself admitted he had no chance of leading the Americans against the Europeans after defecting to LIV Golf in 2022.
Woods led the U.S. to victory at the 2019 Presidents Cup as both captain and their best player, earning himself a captain’s pick.
He has competed in eight Ryder Cups, playing 37 matches and finishing his career record with 13 wins, 21 losses and three halves.
He has also held leadership roles, including being assistant captain at Hazeltine in 2016.
Although he was absent from the last two Ryder Cups at Whistling Straits and Marco Simone, Woods has still played a key role behind the scenes with Team USA.
Woods, a man who bleeds red, white and blue, has 15 majors to his name and a wealth of Ryder Cup experience, is someone any American would want on their team – something Johnson was keen to appeal to last year.
The 15-time major winner led the U.S. to victory at the 2019 Presidents Cup
Before last year’s defeat in Rome, Johnson said Woods would be available to provide his sage advice should Team USA need his expertise.
“He’s a tremendous resource,” Johnson said of Woods. “He’s very involved with Team USA, very involved with how we run Team USA year in and year out, because the guy’s patriotic, he wants to win, he’s experienced and, shocker, he’s the best player in any decade. Fortunately, he’s an American. He’s red, white and blue, through and through.
“Personally, I can show you the text messages that he and I have had… a lot of them are so great in support and belief and trust. I got to go with him as a vice-captain in his captaincy in Australia, and the man knows what he’s talking about… he’s great, and he’s going to be a part of Team USA going forward. He’s not going to be in Rome, which is fine, it’s probably not wise, it was kind of his decision, but he’s a great counselor.”
He was also absent from the US’s 19-9 victory at the 2021 tournament at Whistling Straits, but he still managed to deliver one of the most rousing protest cries.
Woods became the ultimate motivator, texting his fellow countrymen from the comfort of his couch to encourage them to secure victory.
Zach Johnson said before last year’s Ryder Cup that he would ask Woods for advice
One of the messages contained a particularly violent mental image to inspire his countrymen. With the U.S. already building a substantial 11-5 lead over Europe heading into Sunday’s singles, Woods texted captain Steve Stricker: “Step on their necks now.”
Woods continued to serve as couch captain at the 2022 Presidents Cup, serving as Love III’s extra pair of eyes.
Woods, who was again absent from Quail Hollow, called the American captain regularly for advice.
“He talked to a lot of people on the team,” Love said at the time. “I was standing there on the sixth tee for an hour, so I called him and we talked for a while. And I said, well, at least you’re watching on TV. Call us if you see anything.”