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 have boldly predicted for the upcoming golf year: The PGA of America will offer Tiger Woods the role of captain for the 2027 Ryder Cup expedition in Ireland, but the 50-year-old will politely decline. He prefers to lead the US team when it’s a home game. The GOAT as skipper in a continental competition on home soil would likely break all fan hype records ever seen in golf in the USA.
Anyway, it would be Woods’ second refusal after already declining for 2025 at Bethpage Black. This led to the appointment of Keegan Bradley, who since then has carried the trauma of the 2012 Medinah defeat and non-selection for Rome 2023. It is an understandable decision by Tiger. Why should he forego the home advantage – even if statistically it hardly exists – and risk a blemish on his competitive record in an away command operation with slim chances? The Americans last won in Europe in 1993 at The Belfry, England.
Moreover, his opponent in Adare Manor might be Luke Donald, who has outsmarted the US skipper twice spectacularly. This again puts the PGA of America in a dilemma as hardly anyone else is available for the captain job. Hopefully, Keegan Bradley will not get another chance – Medinah loser Davis Love III also got a second chance in 2016 but at home. Well, speculation is allowed… What else did the ‘Fried Egg’ suggest:
McIlroy and teammate Keegan: It’s complicated
An awkward situation: Boston Common recently won a match in the Tomorrow’s Golf League for the first time, largely thanks to putts by Michael Thorbjornsen, who substituted Adam Scott and Hideki Matsuyama. However, last Friday at the SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, the ‘Frogs’ not only faced Los Angeles but also experienced a tense internal team dynamic. Rory McIlroy and teammate Keegan Bradley had to put on a brave face together despite their complicated relationship dating back to the 2022 Ryder Cup at Bethpage.