Many decades ago I changed my journalistic title from rugby correspondent of The Sunday Times to golf correspondent. Noting this, a friend wrote to me. “Well done,” he said before adding: “The trouble with golf is there are never any stories in it.”
No stories? In the sport in which a young man of colour flared across the sky to become widely known as the best man ever to play golf, broadening the appeal and interest in golf beyond all recognition?
No stories? In the sport in which last April a Northern Irishman won his fourth different major championship, thus completing a career Grand Slam, and became the first European and only the sixth man to win all four of the game’s oldest and greatest championships, one of which had begun 166 years earlier?
No stories? In the sport in which for a few short minutes a man of 59 seemed likely to defeat his rivals many years younger to triumph in the 2009 Open Championship, a story that would have resonated throughout sport and not just golf? It would have been like a three-legged horse winning the Derby.
No stories? In the biennial Ryder Cup, which has become one of the world’s most-watched television competitions with interest on all seven continents?
Ah, the Ryder Cup. The event that keeps on giving. Five months after that pulsating event at Bethpage Black – the most momentous of the 33 I have read about, listened to, watched, attended and covered – what is currently the main subject of conversation at golf clubs on both sides of the Atlantic? The Ryder Cup. Specifically, will Englishman Luke Donald go for a third term as Europe’s leader after winning his two previous? And will Tiger Woods make his debut as U.S. team captain at Adare Manor in Ireland in September 2027, a venue owned by JP McManus, his good friend?
Ah yes, that’s golf. The sport in which there are no stories.
Tiger is prevaricating about Adare Manor, citing his involvement in the reorganisation of the PGA Tour schedule. “They [the PGA of America] have asked me for my input on it and I haven’t made my decision yet,” Woods said recently. “I’m trying to figure out what to do with our tour. That’s been driving me hours upon hours every day and trying to figure out if I can actually do our team – our Team USA and our players and everyone that’s going to be involved in the Ryder Cup – if I can do it justice with my time.”
It was reported last week that the PGA of America has given Woods “a soft deadline” of the Masters by which to make up his mind.
If concerns about the captaincy at Hazeltine in the U.S. in three years are a major worry for Donald then the solution is clear. The captain for that encounter is among us already, in plain sight. Step forward Justin Rose to lead Europe in three years.
Meanwhile, Donald is weighing the pros and cons of devoting himself to planning for a third captaincy. The pros? A successful captaincy would make him Europe’s greatest. It’s at home, which is a considerable advantage. His players in both Rome and New York want him as captain. He has universal support.
The cons? The time it would take. Donald is a man for significant detail. Remember how he got the shampoo in the players’ hotel rooms in New York changed because it smelled wrong? Planning another campaign like the ones in Rome and New York would dominate his life for the next 18 months, which he, Diane, his wife, and their three daughters, might prefer not to happen.
Recent announcements indicate the reaching of an accord between some LIV Golf players and the DP World Tour that, subject to certain conditions, would allow Tyrrell Hatton, among other LIV players, to compete in the Ryder Cup. Jon Rahm’s name was not included in this announcement, however. There is no word yet from Rahm’s or the DP World Tour’s camp as to a solution to his standoff. Indeed, the player has made it clear he will not pay the fines which among other requirements would be necessary for him to be welcomed back. So a Ryder Cup without the Spaniard? Hmm. Not good for Europe.
And then there is the current notion that no European player should debut as Ryder Cup captain in the U.S., that task adding too many layers of difficulty to an already demanding assignment. So would it be better for Donald to step aside now to allow his successor the relatively easier ride of a home Ryder Cup before entering the lion’s den at Hazeltine in 2029?
Will it be Justin Rose lining up the European squad in 2029?
MEGAN BRIGGS, GETTY IMAGES
If concerns about the captaincy at Hazeltine in the U.S. in three years are a major worry for Donald then the solution is clear. The captain for that encounter is among us already, in plain sight. Step forward Justin Rose to lead Europe in three years. Rose would then be 49. The 2013 U.S. Open champion and 2016 Olympic gold medalist is booted and spurred for Ryder Cup captaincy. He has competed on seven teams, winning 16 matches, halving three and losing only 10 of his 29 matches in the Ryder Cups of 2008, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2023 and 2025. He has lived in the U.S., played and won over two decades on the PGA Tour, and is at home and comfortable in America.
“There is nobody that is more respected from outside the U.S. than Justin Rose,” Tony Jacklin, who led Europe to two victories, a loss and a tie in the 1983, 1985, 1987 and 1989 matches, said. “He is a consummate champion, a gentleman and he’s got a helluva reputation.”
“He would absolutely be right for that role,” Ian Woosnam, Europe’s leader in 2006, said. “There is no problem it being in America. He is the right choice.”
José María Olazábal has an almost unrivalled experience of the Ryder Cup, having been a player, captain and vice captain in the matches since his debut in 1987. “Justin in three years time could be our next captain,” the Spaniard said. “He would be excellent.”
So that’s it then. Rose for 2029. All that remains is for Donald to sign up for Ireland next year.
And Woods? A team captained by the most renowned man in the game, known around the world by his nickname, would be an attraction. Indeed, it would be more than that. It would be a story.
Top: TIger Woods and Luke Donald, shown squaring off in the 2013 Masters, might just meet as captains in the 2027 Ryder Cup.
ANDREW REDINGTON, GETTY IMAGES
