The United States has dropped the past two Ryder Cups after losing to Europe at Bethpage Black last month and everyone is searching for answers ahead of the 2027 event.
That includes six-time major winner Phil Mickelson, who recently shared a wild theory for how the U.S. can get back to winning.
According to Mickelson, the United States should turn to college basketball coaching legend Mike Krzyzewski or college football coaching legend Lou Holtz to lead the way in order to turn things around.
Mickelson shared his idea on X after last month’s event.
“Here is why looking outside of golf to a Coach K or Lou Holtz is worth exploring,“ Phil Mickelson began. ”Golf is an individual sport that doesn’t have team work, support system, partnership, team analytics, personality traits, and more. The Europeans have a template that teaches and prepares their captains for these skills.
“U.S. has a new template every two years with little continuity. If a Coach K or Lou Holtz or someone similar took over, would it be built upon or would it be scrapped and start over again afterwards? If that’s the case, it would be a waste of time and effort and not worth doing to begin with.”
As you can see, Mickelson believes Krzyzewski or Holtz would excel as captains but only if they sign up to run the team for multiple years.
Coach K doesn’t have a connection to golf, but he was used as a motivational speaker for a Ryder Cup team in the past.
As for Holtz, he is a member at Augusta National and by all accounts loves golf, but he is also 88 years old and it seems unlikely that he would be able to lead the team for years to come.
Perhaps Lou Holtz and Mike Krzyzewski could help in a mentor role or as a motivational speaker, but counting on one of those two to captain the Ryder Cup teams may be a stretch.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.