Tiger Woods Turned Down U.S. Ryder Cup Captaincy Because He's Stuck On Never-Ending Phone Calls With LIV Golf

The 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black had long been circled as the ideal spot for Tiger Woods to make his debut as team captain, so when he elected to pass up on the opportunity earlier this month, it was a bit of a shock. The U.S. has since given the captain's chair to Keegan Bradley - a risky move that should be applauded - but given that Woods' name had been circled for well over a year for the spot, some have continued to ask, what gives?

Speaking ahead of this week's Open at Royal Troon, Woods' first start since turning down the captain's role, he explained why he ultimately decided that the 2025 Ryder Cup wasn't the right one for him. 

LIV Golf, the countless subcommittees he's a member of, and trying to put together his virtual golf league are the main culprits behind his reasoning.

"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 said. "I told Seth [Waugh, the outgoing CEO of the PGA of America] that I just didn’t feel like I could do the job properly. 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 [with LIV Golf], 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 concluded.

Tiger Woods not taking on the role of 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup captain has everything to do with LIV Golf and slow negotiations. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

LIV Golf And Endless Phone Calls Kept Tiger Out Of The Ryder Cup Captain's Chair

It's tough to read those comments from Woods and not come away saying ‘this sucks,’ because it does.

Tiger Woods, arguably the greatest golfer of all time, can't captain the U.S. Ryder Cup team because he's stuck on phone calls that seem to be going absolutely nowhere between the Saudis and suits at the PGA Tour taking their sweet, sweet time trying to come to terms on a merger.

Woods' quick comment about the TGL isn't even a blip on the radar, because how tough is it to put up a giant screen and get a bunch of players together to hit balls into? 

He has certainly earned his spot at the table that is surrounded by people re-shaping professional golf, but all of this to take place ahead of 2025 is brutal timing.

Woods expressed his desire to captain the U.S. in 2027, and that job will be his if he still feels that way in a couple year's time, but he seems better fit to make his captain's debut on home soil as opposed to at Adare Manor in Ireland.

Bradley could very well lead the American squad to victory at Bethpage next year, but if the U.S. gets embarrassed like it did in Italy in 2023, you better believe the golf world will look back on Woods passing on the gig because he's stuck on the phone.