Could Phil Mickelson make a better Ryder Cup captain than Tiger Woods?
Terrible! You might be thinking: After all, Tiger Woods turned down the captaincy of the US team for the 2025 Ryder Cup. Yes, that has definitely become a reality. Hey
Anyway, if you think about the way golf players are in this season, you can think about it. The 82 winners of the PGA tour have had a hard time reducing the last two majors of this season, but they have a name that comes to mind when the captain is on the map. Phil Mickelson. But before we jump to conclusions, let’s take a look at why Mickelson deserves to be ranked higher than one of the most famous golfers of all time. Tiger Woods played in eight Ryder Cups from 1997 until a year before winning his last major, the 2019 Masters. During his long Ryder Cup career, Woods won only once, in 1999 . He has always been a team player and has clearly never held the captain’s throne before! The golfer is renowned for his accomplishments throughout his career, but his captaincy skills could be tested by Mickelson’s experience in this tournament.
Phil Mickelson has won three of his 12 Ryder Cup appearances. In case you didn’t know, Mickelson has played in more Ryder Cups than any other American golfer. He has a tournament record of 18-22-7. But that’s not all: The 2025 Ryder Cup will be held at Bethpage Black and Winged Foot. In fact, this is the same course where Woods won the U.S. Open title in 2002, becoming the only golfer to ever shoot a shot under par. Iconic. Indeed, Mickelson has never been in the spotlight this much before. After that, one might wonder why Mickelson is a better choice than Woods for the 2025 Cup at the famous golf course. The answer lies in all the mistakes Mickelson made at Bethpage.
At the U.S. Open held at Bethpage, Mickelson had to settle for runner-up not once but three times. In 2002, Mickelson scored even par and was three strokes behind Tiger Woods. Four years later, the 6-time major winner again climbed up the ladder to get tied for the runner-up position at Bethpage. This time, he was just a blow behind the Australian golf player Jeff Ogilvi. His latest T2 equally came to Bethpage in 2009 when Lucas Glover won against Mikelson with 2 movements. Although Mickelson is not a winner there, he is the only golfer to have reached this summit more than once, so it is easy to conclude that his power lies on the golf course where the next Ryder Cup will be held. But there are more reasons to look into it.
As with their Ryder Cup careers, Mickelson and Woods have similar differences in Presidents Cup history. A prosperous Woods only played in nine tournaments, and apart from a draw and a loss in 1998, his teams won every other time he played. This includes his most recent tournament, where he was named playing captain in 2019.
Phil Mickelson was never asked to lead the team. The 54-year-old golfer, who won his last major tournament at the age of 51, has 12 tournaments of experience. Again, excluding draws and losses in 1998 and 2003 respectively, Mickelson has 10 wins. But the golfer didn’t perform as a captain.
But if anyone wants to see his record as a captain at LIV Golf, he won’t disappoint. Before Norman announced the home-class approval of all LIV teams, Mickelson spoke about the need to improve his team. The High Flyers GC captain can now see that his improvement plan is working and will now only continue with the individual improvement of newer, weaker players, showing what kind of leader he aspires to be. His passion for team building is also evident in the following words: “I think it is beneficial in the long run for a team to all live together, train together and travel together, which is logistically much easier than doing everything together. He also believes that winning is a team effort. »