Question of the week [April 27 – May 3]: How should the PGA of America go about making future Ryder Cup captain selections?
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Candidates should submit their name with a general team plan leading up to the Ryder Cup. It is important to discuss how captain's picks are evaluated. Ultimately it should be the players choice.
Kenneth Nigro
Ponte Vedra, Florida
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Win-loss record and length of participation.
Tim Ortez
Redlands, California
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I think one criterion should be if he would be willing to have fewer co-captains as a condition for being named captain. It’s a bit silly to have almost as many captains as there are players. World-class players don’t need that much coddling.
Secondly, I’d hope it would be based on merit and not being one of the "in crowd." I’d look at the Ryder Cup records of players and use that as a jumping off point. Frequently, the best tour players are always successful in this competition. Even Tiger Woods, who should never be named due to his recklessness, has a 13-21-3 losing record. Phil Mickelson at 18-22-7 would be a better choice but probably is out due to LIV.
Here are five names, all longshots: Hale Irwin, Tom Kite, Tom Lehman, Webb Simpson and Scott Verplank. All have decent RC records. All are good role models. Given their ages, perhaps Simpson would be the one.
Vinny Mooney
Poughkeepsie, New York
Editor's note: Tom Kite (1997) and Tom Lehman (2006) have already served as a Ryder Cup captain.
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The reigning Senior U.S. Open champion or Senior PGA champion.
Tod Laudonia
Cos Cob, Connecticut
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The PGA of America needs to have a dedicated leadership team — from the business world — to guide and teach potential captains from the pool of current vice-captains. And it needs to help select proper potential future vice-captains. Ideally the captains would be early 40s (young enough to know current players, old enough to not miss out on playing) and have previous Ryder Cup experience.
A decision should be made within 90 days of the last Ryder Cup to allow time for the current captain to decide next steps and also be able to deep-dive successes/opportunities from last Ryder Cup while they are still fresh.
Europe treats it like a business, not a side show. And it shows in their results. You know they had a succession plan if Luke Donald did not accept the offer of a third term.
Keith Tanis
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
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Like any leader in any group of citizens, hold a free and fair election of interested captain "wanna bes" from golfers eligible to be on USA Ryder Cup team.
Thomas Chasse
Gorham, Maine
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The PGA of America should get the hell out of the process. They suck at it. Maybe the entire board of the PGA of Amercia should resign, and let their heretofore useless spaces be filled by people who might actually know what they're doing.
Andrew Turnbull
Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
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I don't think the PGA of America is capable of picking the right captain for the Ryder Cup and should sell it to the PGA Tour. The Tour has a commissioner and a staff to work on this event year-round. I'm sure they can handle this product more professionally and with a greater chance of producing a better outcome. The Ryder Cup is no longer an every two-year exhibition.
Art Williams
Luzerne, Pennsylvania
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The captain should have three core attributes: First, a team-first captain who can take down all the noise of the stars and take pressure away; second, a format guru who understands this is not run like a normal golf tournament; third, a killer who looks for the kill and doesn't let up.
Bill Pierce
Blue Hill, Maine
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ChatGPT. The PGA of America hierarchy continues to make mistakes. It has lacked intelligence and has displayed incompetence for decades. Bringing back a 55-year-old former losing captain backs up my statement.
Dennis Brissette
Heathrow, Florida
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If it isn’t broken, don’t try and fix it. It works just fine.
Wes Morrill
Oracle, Arizona
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The First Call invites reader comment. Write to editor Stuart Hall at shall@buffalogroupe.com. If your comment is selected for publication, we will not publish your email address. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and brevity.
Front: Jim Furyk.
Photo: Eion Clarke / Golffile