Rory McIlroy won’t be Ryder Cup captain any time soon.
He’s still got many years of playing left in him, and McIlroy made clear before the last Ryder Cup that being a playing captain wasn’t feasible in the modern event.
But at some point in his future, it seems almost certain that McIlroy will follow in the footsteps of many other European greats and take on this prestigious role.
He’s had many great leaders to learn from over the years, not least the current captain, Luke Donald, who is looking to become the first-ever to win back-to-back in 2027. But as he has with every other aspect of his career, McIlroy is sure to bring something unique to this role.
Rory McIlroy explains what type of Ryder Cup captain he’d be if he ever took the role
This was put to McIlroy on the Fried Egg Golf YouTube channel, and he broke down exactly how he plans to approach the Ryder Cup captaincy if he ever takes on the role in the future.
The reigning Masters champion said, “I’ve been very fortunate to play under a lot of different captains, a lot of great captains, and I’d like to think that I would take a little bit from each of their captaincies.
“Watching Luke turn into the leader that he has become over the last four years has been absolutely incredible, and I’ve been very close with him on that journey.
“To see you know what a leader Paul McGinley was at Gleneagles in 2014, you know Thomas Bjorn in 2018, they’ve all been they’ve all had their attributes, and I’d like to think I could take a little leaf out of every one of their books and try to put it into my captaincy.’
“But I’ve always said, in the Ryder Cup, I’ve always tried to lead by example from a player perspective. So just because I may be the most senior on the team or the one with the most accolades, that doesn’t mean that I don’t show up first for team meetings.
“I want Rasmus Hojgaard or Bob MacIntyre to look at me and think that they’re on the same level for the week. So to me, to try to create a culture where there’s no hierarchy within the team is something that would be really important to me.
“Then you know golfers are individual people and individual sports people. So let them be who they need to be to get the best out of themselves. I don’t want to put so much structure in that people don’t feel like they can be themselves or get the best out of themselves.
“One of the things McGinley was so good at is he had to treat me very differently than he had to treat Victor Dubuisson, for example. So, to see him do that and some of the things he did for Victor to make him feel comfortable in that environment, that’s something that I’d want to do as well.”
He loves the competition, has been a phenomenal performer in the event over the years and is clearly beloved by his teammates, so McIlroy is set to be a phenomenal captain when he does decide to take on the challenge.
When Rory McIlroy expects to be Ryder Cup captain
While McIlroy isn’t set to be captain in the immediate future, he did once lay out a timeline for when he could take the job.
Speaking at this year’s DP World India Championship, he said, “I would love to be the European captain at some point. But that will be beyond my playing days, or at least when my playing days are coming to an end, and I’m not good enough to make the team or I make way for the new generation to come along.
“Hopefully that’s not in 2027! Hopefully, I’m still good enough to play and put points on the board for Europe. I would love to be a captain one day, and I feel very fortunate that I’ve had a front-row seat playing under some of the best captains in history in the Ryder Cup.
“What Luke Donald has done the last two Ryder Cups has revolutionised the captaincy within Europe. And I feel Paul McGinley in Gleneagles in 2014, he was a wonderful captain and I learned a lot from him. And there’s been wonderful captains between them, as well. All of them have been wonderful.
“The time and the effort and the dedication that Luke Donald has put into the last four years, it’s been absolutely amazing. He has 100% respect of the entire team and everyone that’s worked for him and all be behind him. If I can be nearly as good as a captain as Luke Donald, I’ll have done a good job.
“So hopefully one day in the future, but I’d say not until the mid-2030s, hopefully, if I can keep playing well.”
So, another 10 years and we could well see McIlroy in Donald’s shoes.
