Jim Furyk is returning as the captain for the United States' Ryder Cup team next year, The Associated Press reported Friday, another reminder that even in golf's polished little empire, the same familiar hierarchy keeps recycling itself. Furyk, who captained the 2018 team that was shellacked in France, is back in charge after a process that left Tiger Woods out of the picture and Keegan Bradley's backing apparently for naught.
Who Gets the Armband
Furyk's return puts the decision back in the hands of a figure already embedded in the sport's command structure. He captained the 2018 team, when his captain's picks combined to go 2-10. He also led the Americans to victory as Presidents Cup captain in 2024, and he was said to be a reliable voice as an assistant to Bradley at Bethpage. The Associated Press reported Friday that Furyk will again be the U.S. captain for the Ryder Cup team next year.
Bradley captained last year's team at Bethpage Black, where the Americans had an embarrassing first two days before mounting a valiant effort in an unprecedented comeback in Sunday singles. They fell just short, 15-13, after entering the day trailing by seven points. Members of that USA team backed Bradley after their loss, but it appears to be for naught. In the tidy language of elite sport, that is what passes for input from the people actually doing the work.
The Same Names, the Same Ladder
Furyk would be the fourth U.S. captain to get a second chance dating to 1979, considered the modern era of the Ryder Cup, when continental Europe became part of it, along with Davis Love III (2012 and 2016), Tom Watson (1993 and 2014) and Jack Nicklaus (1983 and 1987). The pattern is hard to miss: the apparatus keeps returning to the same trusted names, as if the answer to repeated failure is simply to hand the reins back to the old guard and hope the structure behaves differently.
Furyk played in all nine Ryder Cups from 1997 to 2014 before becoming an assistant for the first time in 2016. He's remained an assistant since 2021. That long service inside the system has clearly made him dependable enough for another turn at the top.
Tiger Woods' name was floated around for the tournament in Ireland, but he took himself out of consideration shortly following his arrest on March 27. It was not known which way Woods was leaning when his SUV clipped the back of a trailer being pulled by a pickup truck on a residential road in Florida, turning his SUV on its side. Woods was arrested and briefly jailed after Florida authorities determined he was impaired. The brief rise and fall of his candidacy is another neat illustration of how quickly the machinery of prestige can be interrupted by the state when it decides to intervene.
Europe Keeps Winning While the U.S. Recycles
Europe has won 11 of the last 15 matches dating to Oak Hill in 1995. Last year, they became the first team to win back-to-back events since they won three straight from 2010 to 2014. It was also the first time a team won on foreign soil since Europe's Miracle at Medinah in 2012. Those results sit in the background while the U.S. side turns again to a captain from the same inner circle.
Luke Donald will try to become the first captain to win three straight times in September 2027 at Adare Manor. Europe returned all but one player from the 2023 squad to Bethpage, the lone difference between an identical twin brother. The continuity on that side stands in contrast to the U.S. habit of shuffling leadership while leaving the structure intact.
Furyk's 2018 team had issues behind the scenes, too, as Patrick Reed was not happy with being benched twice. He also blamed Jordan Spieth for the two not playing together, which Reed felt could have been successful. Even at this level, the hierarchy produces its own internal grievances, with players left to absorb the consequences of decisions made above them.
For next year's Ryder Cup, the decision is made: Furyk is back, the old order remains in place, and the people at the top of the sport have once again chosen familiarity over anything resembling a break with the system.