PGA Tour winner Smylie Kaufman discussed the potential vice-captains for the 2025 US team Ryder Cup after the PGA of America president unveiled the team captain. Keegan Bradley will now lead the American team at next year’s biennial tournament.
Initially, officials were in talks with Tiger Woods. However, Woods turned down the offer, and Bradley was later announced as the new captain of the American Ryder Cup team.
Recently, Smylie Kaufman and Charlie Hulme discussed the new captain and picked their choices for vice-captains. Kaufman believes there is a chance that Phil Mickelson, who now plays on LIV Golf, might be a vice-captain, as he is very close to Bradley and has held an impressive record at the biennial event over the years.
However, if Mickelson takes up the position, it would be hard to see Tiger Woods as a vice-captain. There are also fewer chances of seeing them serve together as vice-captains for the Ryder Cup. Tiger Woods is a strong supporter of the PGA Tour, while Phil Mickelson plays on LIV Golf.
“The vice captains is interesting because I think Phil Mickelson’s a really close friend to Keegan. But I have to imagine that since Tiger turned it down, it’s hard not to see Tiger being a vice captain. And I just don’t see a world in which Tiger and Phil will be Vice captains together. So, with all that being said, I don’t know who else they could have picked,” Kaufman said. (4:40-5:00)
Smylie Kaufman also discussed other potential candidates for the vice-captain position, suggesting that Stewart Cink and Steve Stricker could be strong options. He added:
“Stewart Cink was the other really big candidate, I feel, and that was kind of rumored to be maybe the next guy. But it wasn’t showing; it wasn’t a layup. I think Steve Stricker was, to me, the best choice that you could have gotten if you got Steve Stricker to go and do it, but it seems that he’s retiring from Ryder Cup captaincy after Whistling Straits. If you couldn’t get Steve, you might as well try to go get somebody else that maybe doesn’t have the experience, but is going to have the fire,” he added.
It is important to note that Keegan Bradley often plays with Mickelson and considers him his mentor. In fact, Bradley even credited Mickelson for his maiden major victory at the 2011 PGA Championship. Given their strong bond, Kaufman believed the six-time major winner could be the vice-captain of the U.S. Ryder Cup team in 2025.
PGA Tour Radio Host tongue-in-cheekily selects “out-of-the-box” pick Michael Jordan as Ryder Cup assistant captain
With the announcement of the captain of the US Ryder Cup team for 2025, golf experts are focusing on the vice-captains who will assist Keegan Bradley on the golf course.
Everyone has their own picks, and recently, PGA Tour SiriusXM host Jason Sobel floated a few options, including NBA star, Michael Jordan. The host made an “out-of-the-box” pick and advocated for Jordan during a recent radio show. He said:
“I have no problem with the guy like that being in the team room, whether as an official assistant captain or unofficially. Michael Jordan, I would assume that Keegan and MJ played a lot of golf together. They played, I remember, together at the Grove,” Sobel said (at 1:43).
Keegan Bradley was an "outside-the-box" pick for Ryder Cup Captain.
Will we see another outside-the-box pick for assistant captain?@JasonSobelGolf and @ESPNCaddie float a few options, including Michael Jordan, Nick Saban, and a few more… pic.twitter.com/XHzTtEgaNO
— SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio (@SiriusXMPGATOUR) July 8, 2024
Michael Jordan is an avid golfer. He enjoys the game and often participates in pro-am and unofficial golf events. Bradley has plenty of options to choose from for his vice-captains, and it will be interesting to see who will take up the position next year.
