Rory McIlroy Reveals He ‘Contemplated’ Player-Captain Role At Ryder Cup
Rory McIlroy rejected an approach to be Ryder Cup player-captain in Ireland in 2027 - and says Keegan Bradley won't be able to do both if the USA skipper qualifies for his own team
Rory McIlroy has revealed that there was talk about him being a playing captain for the 2027 Ryder Cup in Ireland, but has dismissed the plan out of hand as he feels the role just isn't doable.
McIlroy feels "there's no way you can be as good a captain as you need to be" if you are also lining up as a player in such a huge event as the Ryder Cup - something that Keegan Bradley has mooted he wants to do.
At 38, Bradley will be the youngest captain since Arnold Palmer was a playing captain in 1963 - but times have changed and the role has expanded beyond recognition.
The surprise Team USA captain says he will be trying his best to play his way into his own team for Bethpage Black next year, but that's not something McIlroy would try to emulate.
McIlroy will also be 38 when Adare Manor in Ireland hosts the 2027 Ryder Cup and the four-time Major champion revealed that he did consider being a playing captain for that event after the possibility was put to him.
But he does not believe that you could play and captain a Ryder Cup team and do both jobs to the best of your ability.
"No, absolutely not," McIlroy replied when asked if being a playing captain at the Ryder Cup was possible.
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"I've contemplated it for Adare and no, there's too much work that goes into it. I've seen what Luke [Donald] went through preparing for Rome - there's no way you can be as good a captain as you need to be and be a playing captain as well."
McIlroy hinted that he'd actually been asked, most likely by someone connected with the European Ryder Cup team, about the possibility of taking up the dual role in Ireland.
He's pretty emphatic in his response though, with just too much effort needed to be a player and a captain to be able to do both as good as he would like to.
"It's been mentioned and I've just said no way because it depends: what do you want?," McIlroy added.
"If you want to be the best captain you can be you can't play, and if you want to be the best player you can be you can't captain.
"It's one or the other, especially with how big the Ryder Cup has become and how many things you have to do in the lead-up to the event, the week of the event."
And McIlroy dismissed Bradley's hopes of wanting to be a player-captain, as he believes that the 2011 PGA Championship winner would need to hand over the role to a vice-captain if he made the team by right.
"Keegan is the 19th ranked player in the world so he's got a great chance of making the team and then, if he does, I think he's just going to have to give that captaincy role to one of his vice-captains."
Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website. Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush.
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