McIlroy Shot Down Playing Captaincy for Future Euro Ryder Cup Team

As the biggest and most lucrative Ryder Cup draws near, conversation continues to grow around the potential for Team USA’s Keegan Bradley becoming the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963.

However, ahead of the penultimate event of the PGA Tour season, Rory McIlroy revealed a surprising piece of news—he’s been asked to be a future playing captain for Team Europe and has already turned it down. 

“The idea of me being a playing captain sometime soon coming up has come up, and I’ve shot it down straight away,” McIlroy said Wednesday ahead of the BMW Championship.

McIlroy, who has played in seven Ryder Cups, didn’t specify whether he had been formally asked for a specific edition (the next one takes place in Ireland in 2027), but the Northern Irishman cited the commitments a captain has the week of a Ryder Cup, from extra media responsibilities to an opening ceremony speech and more. 

“If you’d have said it 20 years ago, I’d say, yeah, it was probably possible to do, but how big of a spectacle and everything that’s on the line in a Ryder Cup now, I just think it would be a very difficult position to be in,” McIlroy said.

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Next month’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black Golf Course in New York is expected to draw record attendance and revenue. “Every metric we use, it’s been the most,” Ryder Cup championship director Bryan Karns told Front Office Sports earlier this year.

Bradley, speaking later in the day Wednesday, admitted McIlroy “might be right” about the difficulties of being a playing captain. “How do you deal with the media? How do you deal with corporate obligations? In this instance, there’s no one to call,” he said. “So nobody knows how this could work.

Bradley, 39, was named captain last year after Tiger Woods turned down the role. Bradley is 10th in Team USA Ryder Cup points and ranked No. 12 in the world. The top six point earners will automatically earn a spot, while Bradley will select the remaining six players after the PGA Tour season ends later this month.

“Everybody’s telling me to start the year that a player can’t be captain and have a good year,” Bradley said. “For me, I feel like this is one of my best years that I’ve ever had.”