McIlroy, 36, mentioned last summer that he had turned down a chance to be playing captain at the 2027 Ryder Cup. That he was brought into discussions is not a surprise; McIlroy has been the team’s heart and soul for the better part of a decade and the event will be played in Ireland at Adare Manor, a course owned by businessman J.P. McManus, who is friends with McIlroy. However, speaking on Wednesday at Caves Valley Golf Club outside of Baltimore, McIlroy explained his decision was simple: He doesn’t think the dual role can be done.
“I just think the commitments that a captain has the week of, you think about the extra media that a captain has to do, you think about the extra meetings that the captains have to do with the vice captains, with the PGA of America, in Keegan’s case, preparing your speech for the opening ceremony … just there’s a lot of things that people don’t see that the captain does the week of the Ryder Cup, especially now that the Ryder Cup has become so big,” McIlroy said. “If you’d have said it 20 years ago, I’d say, yeah, it was probably possible to do, but how big of a spectacle and everything that’s on the line in a Ryder Cup now, I just think it would be a very difficult position to be in.
“So I just think for those reasons. Then the captain isn’t going to be on the course all day, so really the captain’s only going to be able to play one session on Friday, one session on Saturday. Would you rather not have a player that has the flexibility to go twice if he’s playing well? There’s a lot of different things that go into it, and that’s why I think. Look, it’s just my opinion, but I think it would just be very difficult to do.”
There hasn’t been a playing captain in the Ryder Cup since Arnold Palmer in 1963, although the event was nowhere near the global spectacle it has become. Bradley has not shied away from the idea, however, and McIlroy understands why.
“I definitely think he’s one of the best 12 American players right now,” McIlroy asserted. “That’s why everyone is so interested and it’s such a compelling case, and it’s going to be … I’m just as interested as everyone else to see how it all plays out.”
As for what McIlroy would consider paramount in making captain’s picks?
“Meshing. You have to be able to blend in with the rest of the team well,” McIlroy said. “Maybe you already have a partner in mind that you could play with for foursomes, and then maybe for the better ball also. I think that adaptability and that flexibility, having someone that can go five if they’re playing really well, if they’re playing well that week. That something, that someone that the rest of the guys are really comfortable with. You don’t want to have a fox in the henhouse.”
McIlroy will be making his eighth appearance for the European team at Bethpage next month, and has been a part of five winning efforts. The 2025 Ryder Cup begins Sept. 26. The Europeans are defending champs, but the Americans have won three of the past four cups contested on home soil.
