Rory McIlroy doesn\u2019t believe playing in the Ryder Cup and being a team captain is a feasible idea, telling reporters Wednesday that he already turned down the idea when it was brought up to him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The interest in the topic stems from the impending decision by Keegan Bradley<\/a> over whether he\u2019ll select himself as one of the 12 members of the U.S. Ryder Cup team, which would make him the first playing captain since 1963 when golf legend Arnold Palmer did it.\u00a0<\/p>\n But the Northern Irish golf star bluntly responded to a reporter\u2019s question about why he turned down the idea, saying, \u201cBecause I don\u2019t think you can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland hits a shot during the Pro-Am before the BMW Championship 2025 at Caves Valley Golf Club on August 13, 2025 in Owings Mills, Maryland. Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cI just think the commitments that a captain has the week of \u2014 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\u2019s case, preparing your speech for the opening ceremony \u2014 just there\u2019s a lot of things that people don\u2019t see that the captain does the week of the Ryder Cup, especially now that the Ryder Cup has become so big,\u201d McIlroy said, per CBS Sports<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019d have said it 20 years ago, I\u2019d say, \u2018Yeah, it was probably possible to do,\u2019 but how big of a spectacle and everything that\u2019s on the line in a Ryder Cup now, I just think it would be a very difficult position to be in.\u201d<\/p>\n Keegan Bradley responded to Rory McIlroy’s comments that being a playing captain in this era would be too difficult. <\/p>\n “He might be right. We don’t know. No one knows.” pic.twitter.com\/59HD26sWvt<\/a><\/p>\n\n