We want to understand the first part of Tiger Woods’ legacy

There’s at least one milestone Tiger Woods hasn’t reached yet: turning 50. But that’s going to change. On December 30, Woods will celebrate the half-century milestone, an occasion we’re honoring here at GOLF.com through nine days of Tiger coverage, which will not only pay tribute to his staggering career achievements, but also look ahead to what could come next for a transformational player whose impact on the game can’t be measured solely by wins, earnings or even major titles. In our latest “Tiger @ 50” entry (below), senior writer Sean Zak breaks down one of the few aspects of his career that could still be improved.

MORE “TIGER @ 50” COVERAGE: How Much Is Tiger Actually Worth Playing Golf? | Will Tiger face the PGA Tour Champions? | Why Tiger’s 2000 bag still feels untouchable | Explanation of Tiger’s famous “gate drill” | Tiger stats you’ve never heard | Was this the end of Woods’ career?

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In just a few days, Tiger Woods will turn 50 years old, which will add fuel to one of the dumbest debates:

Will he ever play on the Champions Tour?

The conversation – both on social media and published by renowned journalists – is unsurprisingly being led by those who would benefit, financially or otherwise, if Woods were to say yes (including the current company!) Woods has, in turn, treated the decision with jokes, showing how seriously he is taking it.

The truth is, Woods’ legacy will remain largely untouched by any semblance of a Champions Tour career. Of course we want to see it, but if he wins a few tournaments while driving around in a golf cart, would you be surprised? Think of how much it meant when Phil Mickelson entered the 50-and-over circuit and won with no problem: very little! That’s why I’d like us to turn our attention to something that could actually contribute to Woods’ legacy in his next decade:

Captain of a Ryder Cup team.

One obvious reason why this is worth more oxygen than a plausible start on the senior tour is that Woods has treated the idea of ​​the Ryder Cup captain so… foreign.

Two summers ago — when Woods missed the cut in three straight 2024 majors — it was clear his playing skills and body had deteriorated. It coincided with Seth Waugh, then head of the PGA of America, making it very clear that the ball was in Woods’ court if he wanted the job as US captain for the upcoming Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.

Normally that position is determined about eighteen months ahead of the competition, but there we were, about four months late on schedule, with no American leader declared. As I understand it, Woods had been waiting for the offer for months, unsure if he could give it the right amount of attention amid his various duties in reshaping the PGA Tour.

You know the story by now: Keegan Bradley was handed the position in a shocking move (which played out amid a mostly American cheer at Bethpage). A week after news of Bradley’s appointment broke, Woods was at Royal Troon for the Open – the last time he played in competition – and explained during his press conference that he simply didn’t have the time a captain needed. But then, a few minutes later, I raised my hand with a simple question and got a very strange answer.

His answer was four words long:

“He didn’t ask me.”

This felt like a classic Woods answer. Only answer the question you have want to to answer, not necessarily the one you were asked. It bites in its brevity. Perhaps Woods understood that if he answered in the affirmative, it might force Bradley’s hand. If he were to respond in the negative, he would only be opening himself up to follow-up actions about his disinterest. We moved on to more prescient topics, and I would have been satisfied with the experience if Woods hadn’t responded the same way two years later.

When Woods gave his annual press conference at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas earlier this month, he was asked whether the 2027 captaincy – for the Ryder Cup at Adare Manor, in Ireland – was a position he was interested in. This time he spoke six words.

“Nobody asked me about it.”

I’m asking you about itthe reporter said in turn.

“Nobody asked me about it,” Woods repeated.

We’ll again give him the benefit of the doubt, knowing that Woods saying yes would set aside a lot of work already done by the PGA of America. And if he said no again, it would open up space for everyone to ask WHY?

Given his dismissive attitude – and the repetition of the need to be asked first – it feels worthy of a conversation, especially as Woods enters the decade of most captaincy. To what extent is he up to this task?

Recent history has shown us that the most cohesive, successful Ryder Cup captains have come with leaders who are present on the PGA Tour schedule, who demonstrate the ability to connect closely with their teams, and who have put in time as assistant captains in recent Cups. Woods has been in contact with players at the past Ryder Cups, but always from a remote position in South Florida. He hasn’t been to a Ryder Cup since the Americans were drawn to France in 2018, the final games of his career record of 13-21-3 as a player.

On a personal level, Woods is about as polar opposite as outgoing U.S. 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 and did photo shoots for both GOLF Magazine And Golf Digest, made several trips to Bethpage and answered endless questions about his approach to the captaincy. Is all that really going to happen for Woods – a man whose golf these days is mostly in simulator appearances for Jupiter Links GC?

We’re only throwing these questions onto the airwaves 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 decade. But it feels extremely unlikely that Woods will captain the US team in 2027, a decision that has likely already been made by the PGA of America.

There is the 2029 Ryder Cup, which will be held in Hazeltine, Minnesota. Woods was assistant captain there under Davis Love 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 will graduate high school in the spring of 2027. It’s easy to imagine the elder Woods traveling to his son’s various tournaments and even coaching Charlie during parts of his college career. Add that to his major championship schedule and he’ll be busy.

One can only hope that Woods’ time commitments as chairman of multiple PGA Tour boards would ease in 2028. If so, the next Cup would be in 2029, when Woods is 54 years old. But it will be played abroad, in Barcelona. It would be a tasty, global affair if Woods were to accept the position then and there. It’s complicated – for reasons that we will not go into here – but would the prospect of facing a Sergio Garcia-led team in his home country entice Woods… or put him off? Maybe we’re getting too far ahead of that. On a simpler level, would the required international travel and performance commitments suit Woods’ wishes at that time? All of these things are part of the captaincy equation.

That includes the leadership of PGA of America. Obviously, Woods had a closer relationship with Waugh than with current PGA of America executives, but that could certainly change. It just hasn’t been great form from the American half of the Ryder Cup lately – the latest squabble has been over something as predictable as the Bethpage course layout.

We can go as far as we want, but it seems like the most logical place for Woods to become Ryder Cup captain is in 2033, when it is held at the Olympic Club in San Francisco. The course is on a hill and requires all kinds of shot shapes, seemingly perfect for Woods’ analytical, ball-oriented mind. It takes place in California, the state where Woods grew up, and just up the coast from where he hosts a tournament every February.

There’s plenty to like about the 2033 Cup for Woods. Except the further we go, the older everyone gets. Xander Schauffele turns 39 the week of the 2033 Ryder Cup. Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas turn 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 entirely up to him. And to feel like it’s making a positive contribution to the career of one of the greatest golfers ever, that captaincy has to end in victory, right?