Tiger Woods Says He Couldn’t ‘Properly’ Be Ryder Cup Captain Right Now

Tiger Woods was offered the Ryder Cup Captaincy. He reluctantly declined.

Woods said he did not feel as if he could give Team USA “justice” if he accepted the Captaincy for next year’s event at Bethpage Black. Keegan Bradley will assume captain duties for 2025:

“I think Keegan is going to be a great leader. He’s very passionate about what he does. He’s very passionate about the event. I think that this is going to be probably a turnover year for us for the captaincies, whether it’s the captain itself and his vice captains. I think this is the natural progression, one we’ve been looking forward to, and I think it’s that year.”

Woods, evidently supportive of the Bradley pick for the Americans, said he did not feel as if it was the right time to accept a Captaincy, which requires time, commitment, and plenty of effort to get the team prepared for what is one of the most emotional and passionate events in golf.

Dealing with the negotiations between the PGA TOUR and PIF, and also getting ready to launch TGL, a simulator league with Rory McIlroy, Woods said he didn’t feel that he could “properly” handle the responsibilities:

“I just didn’t feel like I could do the job properly. I couldn’t devote the time. I barely had enough time to do what I’m doing right now, and add in the TGL starts next year, as well as the Ryder Cup. You add all that together and then with our negotiations with the PIF, all that concurrently going on at exactly the same time, there’s only so many hours in the day…I just didn’t feel like I would be doing the captaincy or the players in Team USA justice if I was the captain with everything that I have to do.”

There is still a chance Woods will be at Bethpage next year as a Vice-Captain. While he admitted he and Bradley have had no dialogue on the matter, many would think Woods would be the most ideal choice, among several others.

Cover Image via Golf Magazine