When the Ryder Cup 2025 was announced in Bethpage Black, many expected Phil Mickelson to get the tasks of the captain for Team USA at ‘The People’s Country Club’.
But Mickelson’s move to Liv Golf and everything that kept it removed from the comparison. Instead, the PGA of America Keegan Bradley rippled as leader of Team USA for the Showdown of the following week at Bethpage Black. Luke Donald will request Europeans for the second consecutive Ryder Cup.
Prior to the rise of LIV, Europeans had a stable of veterans in line to be Ryder Cup captains. But Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Paul Casey and Sergio Garcia all went over to Liv, just like Henrik Stenson, who was initially called the Ryder Cup captain from 2023 before he shot for the Breakaway League. That left Europeans with Donald and a relatively empty cabinet behind him, outside of Justin Rose, who still plays at a high level at the age of 45.
Rory McIlroy’s Ryder Cup promise will tell the story in Bethpage Black
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Josh Schrock
As for the Americans, it is unclear who will take over after Bradley has finished the duties of his captain. The name of Mickelson will continue to come, but Johnson Wagner is not sure whether Mickelson would be a fit considering everything that happened since his exit for LIV.
“I mean, think of the players who would be in the American team that he would apply for and who may have the feeling that he had abandoned them a bit and tried to burn the house on his way to the outside,” Wagner told Golf’s Subpar Co-Gastheer Colt and Drew Stoltz in the latest episode. “I think it is a bit harder to have a LIV player as a captain.”
Wagner believes that Rose would be a ‘no-brainer’ to be the next Ryder Cup captain for the European side in 2027 in Adare Manor.
View the full episode in the video below to hear more from Wagner.
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Josh Schrock
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Josh Schrock is a writer and reporter for Golf.com. Before he came to Golf, Josh was the Chicago Bears Insider for NBC Sports Chicago. He previously covered the 49ers and Warriors for NBC Sports Bay Area. A native Oregonian and UO-Aluin, Josh spends his free time walking with his wife and dog, to think about how the ducks will break his heart again and try to become a semi-profit in Chipping. Josh, a real romantic for golf, will never stop breaking 90 and never losing the confidence that the great drought of Rory McIlroy will end (updated: he did it). Josh Schrock can be reached at josh.schrock@golf.com.
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