7 of the most controversial Ryder Cup captain decisions ever made
There is nothing like the Ryder Cup for controversy. The captains are playing for high stakes.
The players are pumped. The media stirs the pot. And the galleries happily join in the madness. But it all starts with the wildcards when the captain’s reveal who they want to complete their line-ups.
Which have been the most debated and most bickered-over selections (or non-selections) of all-time?
1. The non-selection of Keegan Bradley
When most golfers get non-selected we can guess at their disappointment or witness it in guarded fashion in interviews later.
But months after Zach Johnson told Keegan Bradley that he wasn’t needed for the 2023 Ryder Cup, we got to see his emotional response as the news dropped on the Netflix series ‘Full Swing’.
It was raw.
But the controversy had been immediate. The former coach of Tiger Woods, Hank Haney, spoke for many when he blasted Johnson’s six picks as a “boys club” with the pick of Justin Thomas particularly criticised.
“It didn’t matter who Zach Johnson picked, the USA team will be heavily favored,” Haney wrote on social media. “But those picks confirm it’s the Boys Club.
“I think Justin Thomas is a great guy – but he isn’t playing any good.
“Look at his last four tournaments. Missed cut, tied for 60th, missed cut, missed cut. He didn’t make the FedEx Cup Playoffs and he tried like hell to make those. Come on! I mean, really?”
When Team USA lost in Rome the picks looked bad. When footage of Bradley being told the news came out, it looked worse.
And the decision has rumbled on.
When Bradley was selected to be the US captain in 2025 – even though he remains good enough to qualify as a player – it was if the PGA of America was making up for the slight.
That’s all very well, but if Bradley does become a playing captain and lose it will essentially become the case that Zach Johnson’s wildcard decision lost two Ryder Cups.
2. Thomas Bjorn’s entire selection strategy in 2018
The omission of Matt Wallace ahead of the 2018 match in Paris caused outrage on Twitter – and the Englishman was hurt, too.
He had won three times that year, the last of them in the week before the reveal when he thrashed seven birdies over the back nine of the final round.
It was good, but not good enough for Bjorn who turned to Paul Casey, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson.
No matter that all had Ryder Cup records that had earned more points than they had lost. No matter that all had tasted victory. The vitriol was real.
Bjorn argued he had five rookies on the team already and he wanted experience. He needed golfers who those rookies could turn to, golfers who made the team room a better place, golfers who had been then before.
Ultimately victory backed up his notions, helped by three of Jim Furyk’s four picks performing atrociously Bryson DeChambeau (0-3-0), Phil Mickelson (0-2-0) and Tiger Woods (0-4-0).
3. Old man Raymond Floyd in 1993
We called Floyd an old man just now and he was, really.
When selected by Tom Watson, in 1993, he was 51. It would seem off now but back then it was downright bizarre, especially as Floyd looked older with an action that lurched at the ball rather than swung towards it.
He’d turned professional in 1961 when four of his opponents hadn’t even been born.
He’d also won just once in the previous seven years (the 1992 Doral-Ryder Open – at least it had Ryder in the title).
And he’d been the US captain in 1989!
But he had also ended 1992 ranked 14th in the world and was enjoying an Indian Summer in the majors – he finished second at the Masters in both 1990 and 1992 and made nine top 10s in the first 17 majors of the 90s.
Watson liked his snarling demeanour, despite a match record that read (9-15-3), and he was rewarded. After a loss on day one Floyd won two vital points with Payne Stewart on day two and also won his singles on Sunday in the US win.
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4. Curtis Strange get a pick in 1995
Perhaps Lanny Wadkins had been swayed by the success of Tom Watson picking old man Raymond Floyd two years earlier when he turned to the veteran Curtis Strange in 1995.
His Ryder Cup record was not good (6-9-2). His form was not special (no win in six years). But, like Floyd, he’d played well in the majors (four top 20s in his last six of them).
It didn’t work out though as Strange played three matches and lost them all.
5. The non-selection of Christy O’Connor Jr in 1985
The Irishman Christy O’Connor endured a nightmare Ryder Cup debut in 1979, losing twice with fellow Irishmen on the first two days before being left out of both singles sessions.
14 years later he famously earned the point that secured retention of the Cup under enormous pressure and raised his hands to the skies like a priest in devotion. Tony Jacklin was with him then and had picked him – but he has also rejected him four years earlier.
O’Connor had missed the cut in the final qualifying event and slipped from ninth (and in) to tenth (and out) on the rankings. Jacklin looked elsewhere and O’Connor was crushed.
6. The non-selection of Paul Casey in 2010
Ahead of Celtic Manor in 2010, Colin Montgomerie had a simple call to make in picking Luke Donald, whose record read 5-1-1 and he duly went 3-1-0. Padraig Harrington was quite straightforward, too. He went 2-2-0.
But faced with Paul Casey or Edoardo Molinari he watched the Italian win a third title of the year at Gleneagles and picked him. He won a vital half point with his brother and became part of the famous “Two Molinaris” chant but Casey remained bitter.
In fact, he vowed not to play the Ryder Cup again and it took Thomas Bjorn’s pleading ahead of 2018 to change his mind.
7. Andrew Coltart in 1999: picked him, didn’t play him
Mark James went all-in when attempting to win the Cup away from home in 1999.
He packed his fourballs and foursomes sessions with the big guns, hoping to build up a lead he could defend in the singles. A 10-6 lead on Saturday night was all he could have hoped for, but then it backfired.
Seven of his team had played every match and were knackered. They landed just two points from seven in the singles. And three of his rookies – Jarmo Sandelin, Jean Van de Velde and his pick Andrew Coltart – were completely raw having not played at all. They all lost their only match.
Coltart was picked ahead of Robert Karlsson and the vastly experienced Bernhard Langer.
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