US golfer Tiger Woods smiles during a press conference held ahead of the 152nd British Open Golf Championship at Royal Troon on the south west coast of Scotland on July 16, 2024. Picture: Paul ELLIS, AFP
Tiger Woods said his decision against serving as captain of the 2025 US Ryder Cup team was a result of having too many other commitments.
Keegan Bradley will be the captain when the Americans face the European team at the Bethpage Black Course in September next year in Farmingdale, New York.
“Well, the decision was very difficult for me to make,” Woods said on Tuesday, two days before he will compete in the Open Championship at Royal Troon in Scotland.
“My time has been so loaded with the tour and everything and what we’re trying to accomplish. I’m on so many different subcommittees that it just takes so much time in the day, and I’m always on calls.”
Woods, 48, wears many hats when he doesn’t have a golf club in his hand. He is vice-chairman of the board of directors of PGA Tour Enterprises, a member of its transaction committee, and is a player director on the PGA Tour’s policy board, to boot.
The three-time Open winner and 15-time Major champion also is paired with Rory McIlroy as leaders for TGL, a technology-infused golf league that starts in January.
With all that on his plate, he told outgoing PGA CEO Seth Waugh that he couldn’t fully invest his time on being the captain.
“I just didn’t feel like I could do the job properly,” Woods said.
We just can't stop watching this unbelievable shot from @TigerWoods at the 1999 @RyderCup! #TopShotTuesday pic.twitter.com/GL3Nh3XRyA
— Ryder Cup USA (@RyderCupUSA) July 16, 2024
“I couldn’t devote the time. I barely had enough time to do what I’m doing right now, and add in the TGL (that) starts next year, as well as the Ryder Cup. You add all that together and then with our negotiations with the PIF (Public Investment Fund that backs LIV Golf), all that concurrently going on at exactly the same time, there’s only so many hours in the day.
“I just didn’t feel like I would be doing the captaincy or the players in Team US justice if I was the captain with everything that I have to do.”
Woods, however, was quick to praise Bradley, whom he feels will be a great captain.
“He’s very passionate about what he does. He’s very passionate about the event,” Woods said.
“I think that this is going to be probably a turnover year for us for the captaincies, whether it’s the captain itself and his vice-captains. I think this is the natural progression, one we’ve been looking forward to, and I think it’s that year.”
Woods is in line to compete in all four Majors in one year for the first time since 2019. A serious single-car accident in 2021 nearly cost him his leg and he has played a restricted schedule since, usually consisting of Majors, the Genesis Invitational (his foundation’s event) and exhibitions like the PNC Championship.
Woods tied for sixth at the Open as recently as 2018, but he has competed just twice since, missing the cut in 2019 and 2022. Ankle surgery in April last year forced him to miss most of the season. In the first three Majors of 2024, Woods placed 60th at the Masters and missed the cut at the PGA Championship and US Open.
He has played the Open at Royal Troon twice in his career. He tied for 24th in 1997 and tied for ninth in 2004. He was not in the field for the Major’s most recent turn at Royal Troon in 2016.
“Yeah, I’ve always loved playing here,” Woods said. “I’ve only played here twice. I played in ’97 and in ’04. I loved them both.”
Reuters
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