Speculations about Tiger as team captain, Scheffler injury-free, fun with DP World Tour and the Kordas. The Back Nine.
At the start of the year, a little speculation is allowed. Some disguise it as a prediction, a very popular discipline in early January. The colleagues from the renowned US portal The Fried Egg boldly suggest for the upcoming golf year: The PGA of America offers Tiger Woods the role of captain for the Ryder Cup expedition 2027 in Ireland, but the 50-year-old politely declines. He prefers to lead the US team when it’s a home game. The GOAT as skipper in a continental competition on home turf: That would likely break all fan hype records in the USA so far.
Anyway, this would be Woods’ second refusal, having already declined for 2025 at Bethpage Black, leading to the appointment of Keegan Bradley—who has since carried the burden of three traumas, including the Medinah 2012 loss and being overlooked for Rome 2023. It would be a reasonable decision by Tiger. Why leave the home advantage—statistically almost non-existent—to risk tarnishing his sporting reputation abroad, especially when the chances are slim? The last time the Americans won in Europe was 1993 at The Belfry in England.
Moreover, his opponent in Adare Manor might well be Luke Donald, who has already outplayed two US captains comprehensively. This again presents a dilemma for the PGA of America, as few candidates are suitable for the captaincy. Hopefully, Keegan Bradley won’t get a third chance—Davis Love III, after losing at Medinah, did have a second chance in 2016, which was at home. Well, speculation is part of it… And the \”Fried Egg\” team also thought of other scenarios:
McIlroy and teammate Keegan: It’s complicated
An unusual constellation: Boston Common recently won its first match in the Tomorrow’s Golf League, helped by Michael Thorbjornsen, who replaced Adam Scott and Hideki Matsuyama. Last Friday at the SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, the \”Frogs\” not only faced Los Angeles but also dealt with an internal team tension as Rory McIlroy and Keegan Bradley had to maintain a united front despite their complicated relationship since the Ryder Cup at Bethpage.
After McIlroy was reportedly insulted and targeted by US fans in a sometimes nasty manner, Bradley downplayed the fan hostility as merely \”very passionate.\” They apparently reconciled, but tensions resurfaced before Boston Common’s first appearance in the TGL second season. McIlroy expressed that he still holds a grudge against \”Captain Keegan\” for not addressing the aggressive fans. \”Sure, you have to use home advantage,\” said the five-time major winner on the \”The Overlap\” podcast with British football stars Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, and Roy Keane. \”But there was an opportunity for Keegan and the others to say: ‘Let’s stay calm and try to play with the right attitude.’ Some did, but Keegan didn’t. As captain, he could have had the biggest impact to say something. But he