Few days ago, Tiger Woods turned 50 years old, adding fuel to one of the silliest debates going:
Will he ever play on the Champions Tour?
The conversation — both on social media and published by reputable journalists — is unsurprisingly carried on by those who would benefit, financially or otherwise, from Woods saying yes (present company included!) Woods has, for his part, treated the decision with jokey responses, which tells you just how seriously he’s taking it.
The truth is, Woods’ legacy will be mostly unmoved by any semblance of a career on the Champions Tour. Of course we want to see it, but if he wins a few tournaments driving around in a golf cart, would you be surprised? Recall how much it meant when Phil Mickelson walked out on the 50-and-over circuit and won without issue: very little! Which is why I’d like us to pivot our gaze to something that could actually add to Woods’ legacy in his next decade:
Captaining a Ryder Cup team.
One plainly obvious reason why this is worth more oxygen than plausible starts on the senior tour is that Woods has treated the idea of the Ryder Cup captaincy so … weirdly.
Two summers ago — when Woods missed the cut in three straight 2024 majors — it was obvious his playing skills and body had deteriorated. It coincided with Seth Waugh, then the head of the PGA of America, making it quite clear that the ball was in Woods’ court if he wanted the American captaincy job for the upcoming Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.
Usually that position is decided about 18 months ahead of the competition, but there we were, about four months late of schedule, with no American leader decreed. As I understand it, Woods sat on the offer for months and months, unsure if he’d be able to give it the proper amount of focus amid his various duties reshaping the PGA Tour.
You know the story by now: Keegan Bradley was gifted the position in a shocking move (which played out in a mostly-American-whooping at Bethpage). One week after the news broke of Bradley’s appointment, Woods was at Royal Troon for the Open — the last time he’s played in competition — explaining during his press conference that he just didn’t have the time that a captaincy required. But then, a few minutes later, I raised my hand with a simple question, and received a very weird answer.
I know you just ran us through not having enough time to be a Ryder Cup captain, I began. Would you embrace the idea of being a vice captain if Keegan were to ask?
His response was four words long:
“He hasn’t asked me.”
When Woods gave his annual press conference earlier this month at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, he was asked if the 2027 captaincy — for the Ryder Cup at Adare Manor, in Ireland — was a position he was interested in pursuing. This time, he gave six words.
“No one’s asked me about it.”
I’m asking you about it, the reporter said in return.
“No one’s asked me about it,” Woods repeated.
We’ll allow him the benefit of the doubt again, knowing that Woods saying yes would cast aside plenty of work already done by the PGA of America. And if he said no, again, it would just open up room for everyone to ask WHY?
Given his dismissiveness — and repetitiveness of needing to be asked first — it feels worthy of a conversation, especially now that Woods turns into the decade when most captaincies take place. Just how much is he up to the task?
Recent history has shown us the most cohesive, successful Ryder Cup captaincies have come with leaders who are present on the PGA Tour schedule, who demonstrate an ability to connect intimately with their teams, and who have put in the time as assistant captains in recent Cups. Woods has been in contact with players during the last few Ryder Cups, but always from a remote position in southern Florida. He has not been on-site at a Ryder Cup since the Americans were dragged in France in 2018, the final matches of his 13-21-3 career record as a player.
Personality-wise, Woods is about as polar-opposite as the outgoing American captain, Bradley, who lined up to do as much promotional marketing for the event as he was asked … and then some. Bradley opened his home to Netflix cameras during the 2023 Cup, did photo shoots for both GOLF Magazine and Golf Digest, made various trips to Bethpage and answered endless questions about his approach to the captaincy. Is all of that really going to happen for Woods — a man whose golf these days mostly happens in simulator appearances for Jupiter Links GC?
We lob these questions into the ether only to help golf fans consider the position — and Woods’ decision — holistically. It would be absurd if he didn’t captain a Ryder Cup team in the next 10 years. But it feels extremely unlikely that Woods captains the American team in 2027, a decision that has probably already been made by the PGA of America.
There is the 2029 Ryder Cup, which will be held at Hazeltine in Minnesota. Woods was an assistant captain under Davis Love there, when the Americans earned a much-needed victory in 2016. That feels plausible — and would allow Woods to correct the record at the site of one of his most famous defeats: the 2009 PGA. But the timing also coincides directly with the college golf career of his son, Charlie Woods, who graduates high school in the spring of 2027. One can easily imagine the elder Woods traveling to his son’s various tournaments and even coaching Charlie through portions of his collegiate career. Add that to his major championship schedule and he’ll be plenty busy.
One can only hope that Woods’ time commitments as a multiple-board chairman for the PGA Tour would relax by 2028. If so, the next Cup would be in 2029 when Woods is 54 years old. But that one will be played abroad, in Barcelona. It would be a tasty, global affair, if Woods would accept the position at that point. It’s complicated — for reasons we won’t delve into here — but would the prospect of facing a Sergio Garcia-led team in his home country entice Woods … or dissuade him? Perhaps we’re getting too far ahead there. On a more simple level, would the requisite international travel and appearance commitments fit Woods’ desires at that point? All of these things are part of the captaincy equation.
So is PGA of America leadership. It is understood that Woods was closer with Waugh than he is with current PGA of America executives, but that can certainly change. It just hasn’t been a great run of form lately from the American half of Ryder Cup — the latest squabble revolving around something as predictable as Bethpage course setup.
We can push forward as far as we’d like, but it seems the most logical place for Woods to take the Ryder Cup captaincy will be in 2033, when it is held at Olympic Club in San Francisco. The course sits on the side of a hill and requires all kinds of shot shapes, seemingly perfect for the analytical, ball-striking mind of Woods. It will take place in California, the state where Woods grew up, and just up the coast from where he hosts a tournament every February.
There is plenty to like about that 2033 Cup for Woods. Except that the further down the line we go, the older everyone gets. Xander Schauffele will be 39 the week of the 2033 Ryder Cup. Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas will be 40. At least part of that Cup will be decided by a generation of golfers who aren’t even professionals yet — a reminder that the captaincy part of Woods’ legacy isn’t totally up to him. And for it to feel positively additive to the career of one of the greatest golfers ever, that captaincy kind of has to end in a victory, doesn’t it?
