With the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black now a thing of the past, attention turns to the 2027 event in Ireland. Former US Open champion and Northern Ireland pro Graeme McDowell will ” [his] Put on a ring” to complete this big task.
McDowell reveals his Ryder Cup captaincy dream in interview bunker.
But he also worries the politics of the LIV-PGA Tour could prevent him from taking the job and blames the “divisiveness” of professional golf on “the best players in the world.”
Graeme McDowell hopes to captain European Ryder Cup team in 2027
If McDowell does not join LIV Golf in 2022, he will be the obvious choice to captain the Ryder Cup. He is a Grand Slam champion who won the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and played on four European Ryder Cup teams from 2008 to 2014, winning the title three times.
He also served as European team vice-captain in 2018 and 2021.
The Ryder Cup at Adele Manor in 2027 seems like a perfect fit. At 46, he is at the right stage of his career to captain, not too old, not too young, and as one of Northern Ireland’s best golfers he would be a sympathetic choice in that regard.
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in his comments bunkerMcDowell admitted he would “love to do it” and listed some practical reasons why he might be a good option.
“I only saw a few comments where Luke [Donald] Said maybe he didn’t want to do it a third time,” McDowell said of Europe’s 2027 captaincy. “Justin Rose didn’t want to do it because he wanted to play. Rory [McIlroy] It’s obviously not even close, right? He doesn’t want to be captain. So it was kind of like, “Who could it be?” Why couldn’t it be me? “
But given the complications at LIV Golf (which we’ll get to shortly), McDowell also expressed concern about whether the politics of professional golf could cost him the job.
“I’ve thought about it, but I don’t really know what to do right now. I don’t want to be presumptuous about competing. Because the powers that be within Ryder Cup Europe might say, well, that’s not possible,” McDowell shared. “I’m definitely going to do my best to be the best Ryder Cup captain I can be if possible. Obviously I’d love to sit down with the European Ryder Cup team, if possible, and find out what they need from me.”
He went on to say that it would be the “greatest moment” of his life if he captained Adele Manor.
“As we get into the offseason, I’m definitely going to make a few calls and see where the world is. Standing at Adele Manor as Ryder Cup captain will be the greatest moment of my life.”
McDowell criticizes golf’s top players for ‘divisiveness’
But McDowell’s LIV Golf membership was an insurmountable obstacle to his Ryder Cup dreams.
There is nothing in the rule book that prohibits a LIV Golf player from serving as a European Ryder Cup captain or player. However, to compete in the Ryder Cup or participate in a DP World Tour event, any LIV professional must maintain their tour membership and pay a penalty for participating in LIV events.
McDowell revealed that he has settled the fine and while he is no longer a DP World Tour member, that could change if it helps him become captain.
But even so, his chances of becoming captain are slim. Henrik Stenson was named captain of the 2023 European Ryder Cup but was removed from the role after joining LIV Golf.
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in his bunker McDowell said in an interview that he would be “disappointed” if politics prevented him from being captain, but admitted he could understand the outcome.
“I don’t know if that should be in the back of my mind, like it’s politically impossible,” McDowell said. “If that was the case, obviously I would be disappointed, but I would obviously understand why. That’s the way the world is.”
But this does not mean that he will agree to lose the captaincy due to the move to LIV Golf.
Instead, McDowell believes that “the best players in the world” are to blame for the feud between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour, rather than older players like himself who are trying to extend their careers by going to LIV.
“People are going to say I don’t deserve it, that I’m responsible for a lot of things that happen. But I’m just a very, very small cog in this big wheel,” McDowell said. “The disagreement comes from the best players in the world. It doesn’t come from people like me who are in their 40s and are just trying to make ends meet and be competitive on the opportunity that we’re offering, and from a business perspective it would be crazy to turn that opportunity down.”
Ultimately, McDowell suggested making him captain in 2027 could help bridge the divide between professional golf.
“I’d love to be an olive branch and potentially put some of that back together,” he said.
You can read McDowell’s full comments: bunker here.
; "LIV pro blames golf feud on 'best player', eyes Ryder Cup captain 1")
