This past week, Jim Furyk was selected as the 2027 U.S. Ryder Cup captain.
You can forgive American golf fans for the tepid, borderline apathetic response to such an uninspired move.
For one, Furyk served as Ryder Cup captain in 2018 when the Americans were trounced in Paris. Furyk couldn’t do much about an exhausted Tiger Woods laying an egg that week—Woods went 0-4-0 the week after winning the Tour Championship—but it wasn’t exactly a virtuoso captaincy. Furyk broke up the Jordan Spieth-Patrick Reed pairing, tried to match Phil Mickelson with Bryson DeChambeau and greatly underestimated how critical off-the-tee accuracy would be at Le Golf National.
For another, the Americans haven’t won a road Ryder Cup since the early days of the Clinton administration. Luke Donald, coming off of two consecutive successful captaincies, was selected for a third nearly two months ago. Donald has already been on the grounds scouting Adare Manor in Ireland, host of the 2027 match. It feels like Furyk is being fed to the wolves here as the Americans will be massive underdogs.
But the biggest factor of all is that the PGA of America no longer takes the Ryder Cup seriously. Actually, it does take the event seriously—it takes making money off the event seriously.
Winning the event? That isn’t nearly as important.
And, in turn, American golf fans shouldn’t waste the energy getting invested.
The U.S. team is the New York Mets. They should be better based on talent and resources but the people running the operation don’t know what they are doing.
So that American apathy about the Ryder Cup? It’s deserved.
The Europeans are lightyears ahead of the Americans
Over the past 15 Ryder Cups, the Europeans have won 11.
It’s not because of a talent advantage. On paper, the Americans should usually win the match.
So why don’t they?
I think it comes down to two variables.
- The Europeans have built a detailed system over four decades. Every captain has accumulated extensive experience both as a player and vice-captain. Analytics have been taken seriously for many years. There is a culture of veteran players taking rookies under their wing. When at home, they tailor their course to fit the skillset of their team. The Americans have not done this.
- The event matters deeply. The Ryder Cup is personal. It mattered to their predecessors like Seve Ballesteros so they feel like there is a responsibility to continue that tradition. It’s more than a golf tournament. The Americans care as well but the obsession with winning is not at the same level.
The evidence here is ample. Just look at the aforementioned decision for the Europeans to make Donald captain again. The Americans haven’t had a repeat captain since Ben Hogan in the 1940s. And the most successful, innovative U.S. captain in recent memory—Paul Azinger in 2008—never got another chance to lead the team.
The best the Americans have done in recent memory is trying to copy the European captaincy model as much as possible but all of that seems pretty half-hearted now given the mind-numbing decision to make Keegan Bradley the captain in 2025.
Bradley had minimal Ryder Cup playing experience and had never been a vice-captain. He was chosen out of thin air, probably because he was a sentimental figure who played college golf in the area. Probably because he would sell more tickets.
He proved to be a decidedly bad captain, getting the course setup wrong and trying to jam the statistically poor pairing of Harris English and Collin Morikawa down our throats (twice).
The U.S. team almost overcame his captaincy with a wild rally in singles. It wasn’t enough. Had the team had another captain with some experience, they probably would have won.
The U.S. team is stuck in a bad 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 losing.
If the PGA of America doesn’t really care that much about winning, why not really shake things up?
Instead of half-heartedly copying the Europeans, maybe the Americans should take a completely different approach to team golf.
Forget trying to make a recycled veteran the captain. Let’s bring in Nick Saban. Hey, he’s American and loves golf. I bet he would be an amazing CEO. I’m sure College Gameday would let him have the weekend off for the Ryder Cup.
I’m mostly joking … but not completely joking.
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 previous player/captain.
At least try something because the Ryder Cup is dying from European dominance. The U.S. team and everyone involved can’t be taken seriously.
If it’s already a losing battle, at least do something interesting.
Top Photo Caption: Jim Furyk at the 2025 Ryder Cup. (GETTY IMAGES/Darren Carroll)
