The absence of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson’s Ryder Cup captain looms large

Jim Furyk is a curious pick, as a backup pick and a second chance captain next year’s US Ryder Cup team. If the PGA of America, in consultation with its Ryder Cup committee, wanted to go that route, why not revert to last year’s model, Keegan Bradleyfresh off his Lessons Learned tour? Yes, Europe won that event, 15-13. But being a winner was not a prerequisite for the job, and Bradley’s 11 players had several meetings on Sunday.

The Furyk-captained team in 2018 in France appeared to be sleepwalking through all three days of the event, losing 17.5 to 10.5. American golfer Tiger Woods appeared to be sleeping on Team USA Goodbye press conference Sunday night. Woods hasn’t been in a Ryder Cup uniform since, not in a playing role, not in a leadership role, not in any role other than sideline whisperer.

Woods was always a Furyk guy. He related to it, mill by mill. Bradley was one Phil Mickelson acolyte

The elephant in the room here is the absence of Woods and Mickelson as Ryder Cup captains, at least for now and possibly forever. The two dominant figures in American golf over the past 30 years, with 127 PGA Tour victories between them, including an unprecedented six PGA Championships. There is no quicker summary of the costs of their lives off the course than that none of these titans of the game are in the Ryder Cup conversation.

Woods, without saying a word, has shown itself to be an irresponsible driver with deep levels of trauma in his life. Mickelson, using a stream of words, turned his back on his tournament at home, costing him untold damage. Even in this age of metrics, there is no device that can measure strangeness or emptiness.

Once upon a time, it was easy to imagine Mickelson captaining the 2023 team in Italy and the 2025 team at Bethpage Black, and Woods managing the 2027 team in Ireland and the 2029 team at Hazeltine. Maybe it was all a pandemic fever dream. It seems, like the pandemic itself, forever ago.

So, just to put it in one place, here are your six old US Ryder Cup captains, plus one more:

*2018, France, Jim Furyk;

*2021, Whistling Straits, Steve Stricker;

*2023, Italy, Zach Johnson;

*2025, Bethpage Black, Keegan Bradley;

*2027, Ireland, Jim Furyk.

Talk about the tried and true. Four for five, ibid. (Nobody saw Bradley coming, not at age 39.) Once upon a time, Arnold Palmerat age 34, he was given the reins of the Ryder Cup, but that was then (1963). On this list, Steve Stricker is the most notable: He had never won a major! But he was a native Wisconsin boy. Stricker was too modest and too honest to claim any special role in the U.S. victory in Kohler, Wisc. “Brooks and Bryson wanted to play together — that’s how much (this team) came together,” he said when it was all over. Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau. They may be enemies now, but they weren’t then. Stricker did what any good manager does, on any course: get his players to a place where they can do what they do, play golf at a high level. It’s not that complicated, despite the extreme efforts to make it seem that way.

Overall, the PGA of America is in a tough spot. Waiting for Tiger, waiting and waiting for him to make a decision, didn’t help. The organization still has to deal with the worst aspects of last year’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black on Long Island, where the PGA of America failed in his ultimate responsibilitiesto provide a safe and suitable atmosphere for spectators and to be a host and host to our European visitors.

The PGA Championship at Aronimink next month, in the far suburbs of Philadelphia, will be a major test, but also an opportunity, for an organization in a state of turmoil. Four CEOs in an eight-year period, for one thing. The bold move from Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., to Frisco, Texas, outside Dallas, for another. This has been a tough sell all the way. Future PGA Championships are scheduled for the largely untested new course there, one owned and operated by the PGA of America. The unspoken goal is clear: make more money. Never an inspiring comment for any true sports fan to hear. The greatness of the Ryder Cup is that it became a money winner by accident. He became a phenomenon through Seve Ballesteros and Jose-Maria Olazabal, Paul Azinger and Payne Stewart, Paul McGinley and Ian Poulter, even Patrick Reed and Bryson DeChambeau. It became the Ryder Cup because of the personality and quality of the game, along with some great American scenes. Here’s looking at you, Oak Hill in early fall, in Rochester, NY

The captain’s job, when it really boils down to it, is to fill out a lineup card, help set the mood, get the crowd involved. With Jim Furyk, who turns 56 next month, we know what we’re getting. His entire golf life is rooted in relentless consistency and it has served him well. DeChambeau, who is 32, would have been an oddball as a Ryder Cup captain and a wild pick. But if recent history on this narrow topic has taught us anything, don’t delay the joy. Don’t put off the joy when choosing Ryder Cup captains. The committee waited too long for Tiger and Lefty. Elvis has left the building. Tiger also has.

Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments at Michael.Bamberger@Golf.com