Tiger Woods, the best golfer of the modern era, has played in seven Ryder Cups. For the 41st Ryder Cup at Hazeltine National, he tried out a new role, as vice captain for the American team.
And on Sunday, the 40-year-old, 14-time major champion acknowledged he indeed would be interested in serving as captain someday.
"Yeah, I would love to do it," he said at the Americans' post-match news conference following their 17-11 victory over Europe. "I would be honored to do it in the future, if asked."
Woods kept a low profile at Hazeltine all week, not speaking publicly or generally keeping his distance from reporters and spectators. But captain Davis Love III and the 12 U.S. players said, as vice captain, Woods had a big influence behind closed doors.
PHOTOS: Tiger at the Ryder Cup
Woods missed the entire 2016 season after several back surgeries. But he is focused on returning as a player, and said he plans to return to competition in mid-October.
"From the player standpoint of it, I like playing," he said.
But, he said, "I love being out there, in the fight with these guys. I was just in the fight a different way and had to do my role and had to do my job in a different way, and it was pretty cool."
One of Woods' best friends on tour, Steve Stricker will captain the U.S. team in the Presidents Cup in 2017. No captain has been named for the 2018 Ryder Cup match in Versailles, France.
The Ryder Cup next will be in America in 2020, at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wis. Woods could captain the team as soon as that, though Stricker, a Wisconsin native, would seem the popular choice for that one.
After that, the Ryder Cup returns to the U.S. in 2024 at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, N.Y. Woods will be 48 then, prime time for a U.S. captaincy.
This article was written by Tad Reeve from St. Paul Pioneer Press and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.
