Did Rory McIlroy turn down Ryder Cup captaincy? Analyst explores

Rory McIlroy recently opened up about turning down the Ryder Cup captaincy. The Northern Irish golfer skipped the first FedEx Cup playoff event in Memphis last week but is set to tee off at the BMW Championship.

In a pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday, August 13, he addressed the media and discussed the Ryder Cup. Golf analyst Jamie Kennedy has shared a short clip of the press conference on his X account, and in the caption, he wrote:

"Woah....Rory admitted today he was approached by @RyderCupEurope about being a playing captain (likely in Ireland in 2027) 🇪🇺. He said no. "Because I don't think you can do it..."

Jamie Kennedy

@jamierkennedy

Woah....​Rory admitted today he was approached by @RyderCupEurope about being a playing captain (likely in Ireland in 2027) 🇪🇺​He said no. ​"Because I don't think you can do it..."

Rory McIlroy was asked if he was interested in Ryder Cup captaincy. In response, he said (via ASAP Sports):

"No, I've been asked to do that, and I've turned it down."

"The idea of me being a playing captain sometime soon coming up has come up, and I've shot it down straight away," he added.

Rory McIlroy is looking forward to competing in this year's Ryder Cup. He is mathematically qualified to play for the European team in the biennial tournament.

However, this year, there have been talks regarding the US team's playing captaincy. Keegan Bradley would be leading the team in the Ryder Cup, and he has been impressive with his game this season on the PGA Tour. It would be interesting to see if the American would be the playing captain in the prestigious tournament next month.

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Rory McIlroy reflected on the difficulties of being a playing Ryder Cup captain

In the 2025 BMW Championship press conference, Rory McIlroy was also asked about the difficulties of being a playing Ryder Cup captain. He answered (via ASAP Sports):

"I just think the commitments that a captain has the week of -- you think about the extra media that a captain has to do, you think about the extra meetings that the captains have to do with the vice captains, with the PGA of America, in Keegan's case, preparing your speech for the opening ceremony --

"Just there's a lot of things that people don't see that the captain does the week of the Ryder Cup, especially now that the Ryder Cup has become so big," he added.

The 2025 edition of the biennial tournament will take place from September 25 to 28 at the Bethpage Black Course in New York. This year, Luke Donald will again be leading the European Ryder Cup. Under his guidance, the team won the biennial tournament in 2023 in Rome. They are looking forward to defending their title in 2025.