John Daly captaining the U.S. Ryder Cup team in 2027?
The 59-year-old two-time Grand Slam champion paid tribute to the ring during a recent interview with one of his sponsors, Hard Rock Bet. Despite being a two-time major champion, he never played in the Ryder Cup, which he calls his biggest regret.
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“My ancestors are from Cork. I would like to be a captain one day,” Daly said. The 2027 Ryder Cup is scheduled to be held at Adare Estate in Ireland. But even Daly isn’t holding his breath hoping for recognition.
John Daly of Dardenelle, Ark., hits his ball into the No. 10 fairway during the first round of the 2025 Kaulig Corporation Championship on Thursday, June 19, 2025, at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio.
“But that will never happen. But Tiger would be an unbelievable captain. I would love to be a co-captain or just be a part of it in some way.
“I felt like I should have been on both teams, but that didn’t happen. I wasn’t playing well enough, so I didn’t join them. But being a part of the Ryder Cup would be something I wanted to do, whether it was as co-captain or just a part of it. I would love to see it, put my input in and hopefully help the guys. I think it’s an experience for me that I’ve been dreaming of doing since I won the Ryder Cup at the 1991 PGA Championship.”
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Daley’s performance couldn’t be worse: The Americans have lost two straight and 11 of the past 14 tournaments. Maybe he’ll take the pressure off Team USA. In fact, the Tiger-Daley ticket may be popular enough for the 2028 presidential election.
While Daly also acknowledged that his chances were slim, he had an interesting take on why the U.S. had struggled in the first two days at Bethpage Black.
“I just don’t think you should put a long hitter and a short hitter together. I think the short hitters we have, all I see all the time, are grinders, and I’d rather feed off a guy who hits the ball as far as I do,” he said. “Especially in the alternating at-bats. They’re going to be behind some guys, but if you take Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, they’re not the longest hitters in the world, but man, when they’re alternating at-bats, they’re making progress.
“When they’re paired together, they do really well. They feed each other; they hit each other. But if you have a short hitter, Bryson DeChambeau, you can’t knock Bryson out. Only the long hitter can. I think that was a mistake, but other than that, I salute our team for how they performed in singles. It would have been the biggest comeback ever and they almost pulled it off, God bless them.”
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Daly also said the European team is more invested in the Ryder Cup than the U.S. team — and for the right reasons.
“They back it up, they take a week off and then they all go to practice and they get used to the better ball,” Daly said. “I think our team needs to become more of a family and really support the United States of America – the flag – and not worry about what we’re going to get out of it. For me personally, I just want the Ryder Cup.”
This article originally appeared in Golfweek: John Daly hopes to captain 2027 U.S. Ryder Cup team
