Last week, Jim Furyk was selected as the captain of the 2027 USA Ryder Cup.
You can forgive American golf fans for a borderline lukewarm and apathetic reaction to such an uninspired move.
First, Furyk served as Ryder Cup captain in 2018 when the Americans were defeated in Paris. Furyk couldn’t do much for an exhausted Tiger Woods who laid an egg that week — Woods went 0-4-0 the week after winning the Tour Championship — but he wasn’t exactly a virtuoso captain. Furyk split Jordan Spieth-Patrick Reed, tried to match Phil Mickelson with Bryson DeChambeau and grossly underestimated how critical accuracy off the tee would be at Le Golf National.
For another, the Americans haven’t won a Ryder Road Cup since the early days of the Clinton administration. Luke Donald, coming off two successful captains in a row, was picked for a third almost two months ago. Donald has already been on the ground scouting Adare Manor in Ireland, host of the 2027 match. It feels like Furyk is feeding the wolves here as the Americans will be underdogs.
But the biggest factor of all is that the PGA of America no longer takes the Ryder Cup seriously. In fact, she takes the event seriously – she takes monetizing the event seriously.
Win the event? This is not nearly as important.
And, on the other hand, American golf fans should not lose energy to invest.
The American team is the New York Mets. They need to be better grounded in talent and resources, but the people running the operation don’t know what they’re doing.
So that American apathy for the Ryder Cup? It is deserved.
Europeans are light years ahead of Americans
Over the last 15 Ryder Cups, Europeans have won 11.
It’s not because of the talent advantage. On paper, the Americans should usually win the match.
So why don’t they?
I think it comes down to two variables.
- Europeans have built a detailed system over four decades. Each captain has accumulated extensive experience as a player and vice-captain. Analytics has been taken seriously for many years. There is a culture of veteran players taking rookies under their wing. When at home, they adjust their course to suit their team’s abilities. Americans have not done that.
- The event is of great importance. The Ryder Cup is personal. It was important to their predecessors like Seve Ballesteros, so they feel there is a responsibility to continue that tradition. It’s more than a golf tournament. Americans care too, but the obsession to win is not at the same level.
The evidence here is abundant. Just look at the aforementioned decision for the Europeans to make Donald the captain again. The Americans haven’t had a repeat captain since Ben Hogan in the 1940s. And the most successful and innovative US captain in recent memory — Paul Azinger in 2008 — didn’t get another chance to lead the team.
The best thing the Americans have done in recent memory is try to copy the European model of captaincy as much as possible, but that all seems pretty half-baked now given the mind-numbing decision to make Keegan Bradley captain in 2025.
Bradley had minimal Ryder Cup playing experience and had never been vice-captain. He was chosen out of thin air, perhaps because he was a sentimental figure playing college golf in the area. Maybe because it would sell more tickets.
He proved to be a decidedly bad skipper, getting the course setup wrong and trying to trip up the statistically weak pairing of Harris English and Collin Morikawa (twice).
The American team almost defeated its captain with a wild rally in singles. It wasn’t enough. If the team had another experienced captain, they probably would have won.
The US team is stuck in a vicious cycle
Of course, the issue now is that potential American Ryder Cup captains don’t have much positive experience. Anyone with experience has probably seen a lot of losses.
If the PGA of America doesn’t really care about winning, why not shake things up?
Instead of half-heartedly copying the Europeans, perhaps Americans should take an entirely different approach to team golf.
Forget trying to captain a recycled veteran. Let’s bring in Nick Saban. Hey, he’s American and he loves golf. I bet he would make a great CEO. I’m sure College Gameday would let him have the weekend off for the Ryder Cup.
I’m mostly kidding … but not totally kidding.
I don’t think it’s that crazy. Get someone who is an incredible motivator. Someone who knows how to delegate. Someone who understands the importance of the event.
Maybe it’s someone from within golf, but not a former player/captain.
At least try something because the Ryder Cup is dying from European dominance. The American team and everyone involved cannot be taken seriously.
If it’s already a losing battle, at least do something interesting.
Image caption: Jim Furyk at the 2025 Ryder Cup. (GETTY IMAGES/Darren Carroll)
