The Ryder Cup continues to be a hot topic, especially on the American side of the golfing world. Team USA’s defeat at Bethpage Black has led many to consider replacing Keegan Bradley as captain, and quite a few have already begun to make suggestions.
One of the names that has begun to circulate is Stewart Cink. A member of the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams on several occasions, and a former Assistant Captain in both events, Cink is still waiting for his chance to lead Team USA.
The player himself recently revealed that his name was on the list of candidates to be captain at Bethpage Black when Tiger Woods declined the offer. Cink said he had an interview with PGA of America officials in 2024, a meeting that, in his opinion, went very well.
After that, he heard nothing more about the matter until Bradley was announced as captain about two months later.
“I was gutted. I thought I had a pretty good shot at it,” Cink said, according to Golfweek.
Cink’s interest in the job has not diminished because he was not selected this time. In fact, you might even say quite the contrary.
“Heck yeah, I’m interested in being the Ryder Cup captain. I would love to,” Cink said, according to Golfweek. “I’d love to represent the United States and the players, take some of the experience that I’ve got and apply it, and hopefully try to get this thing turned around. It feels like the Ryder Cup has been like a European party for about 15 years now or more. I’d like to change that.”
Cink played in five editions of the Ryder Cup, finishing on the winning side once. His career as a player in the Presidents Cup included four editions, with as many victories.
He also served as one of the assistant captains in the 2023 Ryder Cup and the 2024 Presidents Cup.
His playing career includes eight PGA Tour victories, with the 2009 Open Championship as the main highlight. In 2023, he joined the PGA Tour Champions and has three victories at that level to date.
The bottom line is that Cink certainly has no shortage of experience, and he has even started thinking about how to improve things for the U.S. Ryder Cup Team.
“Europe is leaving no stone unturned when it comes to getting ready for this thing with partnerships, with course setup, with game plans, with choices for assistant captains. I think we need to do a little more of what they’re doing,” he said, according to Golfweek. “I don’t know what that is yet, but we have to do some things differently. I would just love a shot at it and get in there and re-work some of the stuff and figure out what is working for them.”
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