Tiger Woods wants to be US Ryder Cup captain at Adare in 2027 – and hopes his friend JP McManus will be there

Mr McManus (73) underwent treatment for prostate cancer in 2009, and given their friendship, 15-time major winner Woods would be an ideal candidate for the job in Ireland, having turned down the chance to captain in New York next year.

“Whether JP is – I know it’s near and dear to his heart that he wants to be there for the event, and I hope he is there, obviously the conditions that he’s going through, and I hope he’s there,” Woods said ahead of The Open at Royal Troon. “And I hope he’s healthy and happy.

“As I said, I’ll put my hat in the ring again when I have more time and feel like I can devote myself to a Ryder Cup.

“As of right now, I’ve got so many different things I’m juggling and trying to get right at the same time for all the players that are a part of the PGA Tour. It’s one of those things where you just can’t get it wrong.”

Woods was considered the front-runner for the job at Bethpage Black in New York last year but made himself unavailable as he juggles multiple off-course commitments, including the PGA TOUR’s talks with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

“Well, the decision was very difficult for me to make,” Woods said. “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.

“I told [former PGA of America CEO] Seth [Waugh] that I just didn’t feel like I could do the job properly. I couldn’t devote the time.

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“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 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.

“Then with Keegan, I think Keegan is going to be a great leader. 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 has a close relationship with McManus and played several times in his charity pro-am.

He’s also been a frequent visitor to Ireland over the years and just hopes the USA can enjoy a more positive Ryder Cup result than they did at The K Club in 2006 when Europe won by a record-equalling nine-point margin.

“Hopefully, it won’t be as wet as it was there,” he said of Adare 2027. “Hopefully, my caddie doesn’t drop a nine-iron in the water.

“We had a fun week as a team. Unfortunately, we lost. I played the first match out against Darren [Clarke] after he just lost Heather, so that was very emotional.

“Darren and I have been very close. It was tough to lose that match, but I was – I couldn’t have been more happy and tearful myself for him for what that match meant and what the Irish crowd meant to him and the energy they brought to him during that difficult period.”