Just for fun I started thinking about who the future Ryder Cup captains are likely to be. It’s always been pretty easy to predict who the next one was going to be, but I never thought more than 2 years ahead before. I decided to look a little closer into the past selections by the PGA of America, and there are some interesting statistics on the past 20 Ryder Cup captains.
1. Age range is 43-50. Jack Nicklaus (43). Jackie Burke Jr., Corey Pavin (50)
2. Every Captain has been a Major winner. For many years there was a PGA Championship bias. Tom Kite was the 1st Captain since 1955 with only one major, where that major wasn’t a PGA. All the other Captains with only 1 major were PGA champions. (Chick Harbert , Jerry Barber, Jay Hebert, Dow Finsterwald, Dave Marr, Lanny Wadkins )
3. Multiple major winners that never captained. ( Julius Boros, Johnny Miller, Hale Irwin, Hubert Green, Larry Nelson, Andy North ) Boros, Green and Nelson (2) all won the PGA.
4. No presidents Cup Captain has gone onto Captain the Ryder cup.
These are the best bets for the next 6 Ryder cups. I put what age they’ll be in parentheses.
2012. Davis Love (48), Lee Janzen (48)
2014. David Toms (47) Brian Manzella, Michael Finney assistant captains.
2016 & 2018 Jim Furyk (46), Phil Mickelson (46)
2020. Justin Leonard (48)
2022. Stewart Cink (49)
Obviously a lot can happen in the next 12 years to change things, but I don’t see an American over 36 years old winning a Major that doesn’t already have one. Unless the PGA goes with an over 50 Fred Couples, gives a non-Major winner a chance (Steve Stricker) or lets someone repeat (Paul Azinger), these are the choices. It looks like David Toms has a real good shot for 2014.
1. Age range is 43-50. Jack Nicklaus (43). Jackie Burke Jr., Corey Pavin (50)
2. Every Captain has been a Major winner. For many years there was a PGA Championship bias. Tom Kite was the 1st Captain since 1955 with only one major, where that major wasn’t a PGA. All the other Captains with only 1 major were PGA champions. (Chick Harbert , Jerry Barber, Jay Hebert, Dow Finsterwald, Dave Marr, Lanny Wadkins )
3. Multiple major winners that never captained. ( Julius Boros, Johnny Miller, Hale Irwin, Hubert Green, Larry Nelson, Andy North ) Boros, Green and Nelson (2) all won the PGA.
4. No presidents Cup Captain has gone onto Captain the Ryder cup.
These are the best bets for the next 6 Ryder cups. I put what age they’ll be in parentheses.
2012. Davis Love (48), Lee Janzen (48)
2014. David Toms (47) Brian Manzella, Michael Finney assistant captains.
2016 & 2018 Jim Furyk (46), Phil Mickelson (46)
2020. Justin Leonard (48)
2022. Stewart Cink (49)
Obviously a lot can happen in the next 12 years to change things, but I don’t see an American over 36 years old winning a Major that doesn’t already have one. Unless the PGA goes with an over 50 Fred Couples, gives a non-Major winner a chance (Steve Stricker) or lets someone repeat (Paul Azinger), these are the choices. It looks like David Toms has a real good shot for 2014.