How Are Ryder Cup Captains Chosen?

Being selected as a captain for the Ryder Cup is one of the greatest honors in all of golf. Not only does the privilege come with the ability to represent your country, but it also comes with the pressure to produce a winner for either the United States or Europe. How Ryder Cup captains are selected still has a bit of mystique behind it. Let’s look at that process along with a historical recap of every captain since 1927.

How Team USA Selects a Captain

The PGA of America, which also organizes the entire Ryder Cup on the U.S. side, had always used a 21-person selection committee to determine the United States Ryder Cup captain. However, in recent years, a small task force of U.S. players have joined high-raking members of the PGA of America to determine United States Ryder Cup captains, future captains, and even discuss players and strategy.

Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth, and Justin Thomas have been important player voices while Webb Simpson, Peter Malnati, Patrick Cantlay, and Billy Horschel have also been included.

RELATED: Ryder Cup Format & Scoring Explained

How Team Europe Selects a Captain

The R&A oversees the European Ryder Cup team and runs the British Open. Like the Americans, Europe has a tournament committee that meets regularly to determine who should be considered for captaincy. Once the committee votes, it must be ratified by the European Ryder Cup stakeholders. In this process, a combination of R&A officials, as well as former and current players, are responsible for the final nod.

RELATED: Ryder Cup History

Traits of a Ryder Cup Captain

The traits of a Ryder Cup captain have evolved over the years. Veterans who had success as players in Ryder Cup matches have always had a great chance of being selected to be a winning captain. While playing in the matches and understanding strategy is still important to being selected today, teams emphasize selecting individuals who can keep a cohesive unit of players. Candidates with good leadership skills, who are calm under pressure, and may even have knowledge of the host course have a strong chance at being selected today. As evidence, 2018 U.S. captain Jim Furyk, who went 10-20-1 in nine Ryder Cup matches, earned the nod despite his less-than-stellar playing performance in the event.

RELATED: American Golfers With the Most Ryder Cup Appearances

There is also a growing trend on both teams of potential future captains learning the ropes as assistant captains before being selected as a captain. This helps expose them to the elements of competing in a Ryder Cup from the captain's perspective before taking on all the pressure of the role. The U.S., also has the option of trying out potential captains in the President’s Cup to see how they handle the role.

All-in-all, success in one’s playing career can’t go unnoticed when being considered as a Ryder Cup captain, but it’s not the only prerequisite.

RELATED: Europe's Most Successful Ryder Cup Golfers

Ryder Cup Captain Fun Facts

• Walter Hagen is the most successful Ryder Cup captain of all time. He captained the U.S. to victory four times (1927, 1931, 1935,1937).
• In 1963, Arnold Palmer became the youngest Ryder Cup captain at the age of 34. The King was also competing in that year’s match as a player.
• European captains have made the most successful captain’s picks in history. With each delivering four points, they are: Ian Woosnam in 2006 (picked Lee Westwood), Nick Faldo in 2008 (picked Ian Poulter), and Jose Maria Olazabal 2012 (also picked Ian Poulter).
• Ryder Cup captains are not financially compensated by the PGA of America or R&A.
• Henrik Stenson was slated to lead Team Europe for the 2023 matches, however, he was replaced by the R&A after he decided to play his full-time schedule on the LIV Golf circuit. Luke Donald replaced Stenson.
• The only captain to have never played in a Ryder Cup was J. H. Taylor in 1933.

List of All-Time Ryder Cup Captains

Here's the complete list of every Ryder Cup captain for the United States and European teams.

*w- denotes winning captain