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Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior Writer
TROON, Scotland — Tiger Woods said turning down an opportunity to captain next year’s U.S. Ryder Cup team was a difficult one, but one he had to make because of myriad other commitments.
Keegan Bradley, a two-time Ryder Cup player, will captain the U.S. when it faces the European team at the Bethpage Black Course in Farmingdale, New York, on Sept. 26-28, 2025.
“Well, the decision was very difficult for me to make,” Woods said Tuesday at Royal Troon Golf Club as he prepares for the Open Championship. “My time has been so loaded with the tour and everything and what we’re trying to accomplish. I’m on so many different subcommittees that it just takes so much time in the day, and I’m always on calls.”
Woods, 48, is vice chairman of the board of directors of PGA Tour Enterprises and a member of its transaction committee, which is handling day-to-day negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund about a potential multibillion-dollar investment. Woods is a player director on the PGA Tour’s policy board as well.
Woods and Rory McIlroy also are the front men for TGL presented by SoFi, a tech-infused golf league that is scheduled to begin its inaugural season on Jan. 7.
“I just didn’t feel like I could do the job properly,” Woods said. “I couldn’t devote the time. I barely had enough time to do what I’m doing right now, and add in the TGL starts next year, as well as the Ryder Cup. You add all that together and then with our negotiations with the PIF, all that concurrently going on at exactly the same time, there’s only so many hours in the day.
“I just didn’t feel like I would be doing the captaincy or the players in Team USA justice if I was the captain with everything that I have to do.”
Woods said he hasn’t talked to Bradley about being one of his vice-captains.
“I think Keegan is going to be a great leader,” Woods said. “He’s very passionate about what he does. He’s very passionate about the event. I think that this is going to be probably a turnover year for us for the captaincies, whether it’s the captain itself and his vice captains. I think this is the natural progression, one we’ve been looking forward to, and I think it’s that year.”
Woods hasn’t ruled out becoming a Ryder Cup captain in the future. The 2027 event will be played at the Golf Course at Adare Manor in Ireland, which is owned by his friend, JP McManus.
It will be Woods’ first tournament at Royal Troon since he tied for ninth at the 2004 Open Championship. He missed the 2016 tournament while recovering from a back injury.
Woods will play the first two rounds with PGA Championship winner Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay. They’ll tee off in the first round at 9:37 a.m. ET Thursday; they start the second round at 4:25 a.m. ET Friday.
The 15-time major champion has finished only nine competitive rounds on tour this season. He was forced to pull out of February’s Genesis Invitational after one round because of illness. At the Masters, he set a tournament record with his 24th consecutive made cut and finished 60th. He missed the cut in his past two starts at the PGA Championship and U.S. Open.
“I’ve been training a lot better,” Woods said. “We’ve been busting it pretty hard in the gym, which has been good. Body’s been feeling better to be able to do such things, and it translates [to] being able to hit the ball better. Can’t quite stay out there during a practice session as long as I’d like, but I’m able to do some things that I haven’t done all year, which is nice.”
When Woods was asked how long he’ll keep playing, he said: “I’ll play as long as I can play, and I feel like I can still win the event.”
Earlier this week, Scottish golfer Colin Montgomerie told The Times of London that it was time for Woods to retire from competitive golf.
“Aren’t we there? I’d have thought we were past there,” Montgomerie said. “There is a time for all sportsmen to say goodbye, but it’s very difficult to tell Tiger it’s time to go. Obviously, he still feels he can win. We are more realistic.”
Woods was asked about Montgomerie’s remarks Tuesday. Woods noted that as a three-time winner of the Claret Jug, he is eligible to play in The Open until he is 60. Montgomerie was a five-time runner-up in the majors but never won one of the big four.
“Well, as a past champion, I’m exempt until I’m 60,” Woods said. “Colin’s not. He’s not a past champion, so he’s not exempt. So, he doesn’t get the opportunity to make that decision. I do.”