Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee believes that Tiger Woods won’t be at Adare Manor as the captain of the United States team when they attempt to wrestle the Ryder Cup back from European hands in 2027.
Woods admitted that he’d been approached by the PGA of America with a view to taking the role when he talked to the press at the Genesis Invitational at Riviera where he was serving as tournament host, but that he was unsure whether it would be possible given the workload he’s currently undertaking as Chairman of the PGA Tour’s Future Competitions Committee and in his role as a Player Director on the Tour’s Policy Board.
“I haven’t made my decision yet,” Woods said. “I’m trying to figure out what we’re trying to do with our tour.
“That’s been driving me hours upon hours every day, trying to figure out if I can actually do our team, Team USA, and everyone involved in the Ryder Cup justice with my time.”
Last week, in an Associated Press article by Doug Ferguson, it was claimed that the PGA of America had issued Woods a ‘soft’ deadline of before the Masters Tournament to make up his mind, and Chamblee feels that Tiger’s other engagements will mean he passes on the opportunity and waits for a later date.
“I think the next captain should be Justin Leonard,” Chamblee told Dan Rappaport on the latter’s ‘Dan on Golf’ show. “Tiger’s got plenty of time to be a captain. He should probably do it more than once.
“I think he’s too busy with the governance of the PGA Tour, Charlie being at home, I think he wants to play a little on the PGA Tour Champions. He’s got bigger fish to fry right now than taking over the Ryder Cup.”
Leonard, who currently competes on the PGA Tour Champions circuit, is a three-time Ryder Cup player and famously holed a lengthy birdie putt on the 17th hole in his singles match against José María Olazábal in the 1999 Ryder Cup at Brookline which all but secured the U.S. victory and completed a stunning comeback.
The 53-year-old has not been part of a Ryder Cup backroom, but was an Assistant Captain to Jim Furyk at the 2024 Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal in Canada where the U.S. team made it 10 wins in a row.
“The right thing to do is make Justin Leonard the captain,” Chamblee argued. “With Justin, you tell me an American player – because we don’t [have many] heroes in the Ryder Cup – that has hit a more memorable shot than Justin Leonard.
“He’s handled himself with class, is really thoughtful. He comes closest in all of those metrics – tangibles and intangibles – to being Paul McGinley, to me.
“There’s one clear choice for the next Ryder Cup captain because, clearly, Tiger Woods is not there yet. If Tiger Woods was there, he’d get it in perpetuity, as long as he wants it. But I think he’s too busy with the governance of the PGA Tour.”
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