TROON, Scotland — Tiger Woods explained that he turned down the chance to captain the United States Ryder Cup team because he felt it would be a “disservice” to the American players and the event.

Woods, 48, had long been the prohibitive favorite to helm the red, white and blue for the 2025 match at Bethpage Black, with Tiger and former PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh publicly acknowledging the sides were in discussions over Woods’ role. However, Woods decided the timing wasn't right, with Keegan Bradley becoming the unexpectedly as the American leader last week.

Speaking to the media Tuesday at Royal Troon ahead of the Open Championship, Woods said he had to pass on the opportunity due to his obligations with the PGA Tour’s negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

“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 Seth that I just didn't feel like I could do the job properly. I couldn't devote the time. 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 exactly 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.”

Woods gave his blessing to Bradley as the U.S. captain, believing the former PGA champ will be “a great leader.”

“He's very passionate about what he does,” Woods said. “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.”

As for Woods’ potential interest in serving as an assistant to Bradley, Woods replied Bradley has not asked him to participate.

Woods, who served as the Presidents Cup captain in 2019, is now a likely candidate to lead the Americans at the 2027 Ryder Cup in Ireland. Still, Woods even kept that possibility at bay.

“As I said, I'll put my hat in the ring again when I have more time and I 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,” Woods said. “It's one of those things where you just can't get it wrong.”

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