Speculations around Tiger as captain, Scheffler safe this time, fun with DP World Tour and the Kordas. The Back Nine.
At the start of the year, a bit of speculation is allowed. Some disguise it as a forecast, a popular discipline in early January. The colleagues from the renowned US portal The Fried Egg have made a bold prediction for the upcoming golf year: The PGA of America will offer Tiger Woods the role of captain for the 2027 Ryder Cup in Ireland, but the 50-year-old will politely decline. He prefers to lead the US team when the event is on home soil. The GOAT as skipper in a continental competition on his own turf would likely blow up all previous fan hype experienced in US golf.
In any case, it would be Woods’ second refusal after already turning down 2025 at Bethpage Black. This led to the appointment of Keegan Bradley, who since the 2012 Medinah loss and exclusion from Rome 2023, carries his third trauma. It is a reasonable decision by Tiger. Why give up home advantage – which statistically doesn’t really exist – and risk tarnishing his record in an away command role where chances are slim? The US last won in Europe in 1993 at The Belfry in England.
Moreover, his opponent at Adare Manor could be Luke Donald, who has famously bested the US captain twice. This leaves the PGA of America again in a dilemma, as few others fit the captain role. Hopefully, Keegan Bradley won’t be called again – Medinah loser Davis Love III got a second chance, but that was in 2016 on home soil. So, some speculation is justified… The \”Fried Egg\” team also had other ideas:
McIlroy and teammate Keegan: It’s complicated
An unusual situation: Boston Common won its first match in the Tomorrow’s Golf League thanks largely to putts from Michael Thorbjornsen, an Adam Scott and Hideki Matsuyama replacement. But last Friday at SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, the “Frogs” faced not only a duel against Los Angeles but also a tense internal team situation. Rory McIlroy and Boston Common teammate Keegan Bradley had to put on a brave face despite their complicated relationship since the Ryder Cup at Bethpage.
Specifically, after McIlroy was insulted harshly by US fans, Bradley downplayed the fan hostility as just “very passionate.” They supposedly reconciled, but ahead of Boston Common’s first appearance in this TGL season, the issue resurfaced. McIlroy made clear he still resents “Captain Keegan” for not intervening with overzealous fans. The five-time major winner said on the podcast \”The Overlap\” with British football stars Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher and Roy Keane, “Of course, you have to use home advantage, but Keegan and others could have said, ‘Let’s stay calm and play with the right mindset.’ Some did, but Keegan did not. As captain, he could have made the biggest impact. He didn’t.” The social media relationship status? Complicated.