Golf legend shuts down Tiger Woods rumour following Keegan Bradley's latest Ryder Cup comments

Dame Laura Davies does not believe Tiger Woods will replace Keegan Bradley as United States Ryder Cup captain, following an interview on talkSPORT. 

Rumours have been swirling the past 48 hours that Bradley, 39, could soon hand over the captaincy of the US Ryder Cup team as a result of his recent impressive play on the PGA Tour. 

Bradley denied Tommy Fleetwood his first PGA Tour title with a birdie on the 72nd hole at the Travelers Championship to clinch his eighth PGA Tour title on Sunday. 

It also marked his second Travelers Championship in the last three years. 

With Bradley vaulting up to a career-best seventh in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) and to ninth in the US Ryder Cup standings, speculation is mounting that he could either pass the reins to someone else, or act as the first playing captain of a US Ryder Cup team since Arnold Palmer in 1963 (USA went on to beat Great Britain 23-9 at Atlanta Athletic Club). 

Bradley has also left the door open following his latest comments ahead of this week's Rocket Classic. 

"My whole life every year I was out here I wanted to play on the Ryder Cup team, and then this would be the first year where maybe I didn't want to," said Bradley.

"I just wanted to be the captain and, of course, you know, this is what happens. But we'll see. I'm going to do whatever I think is best for the team."

Golf legend Davies, winner of a record 45 Ladies European Tour titles and 20 LPGA victories, believes if Bradley does become a playing captain then it will most certainly play into the hands of Luke Donald's Europe. 

That's because the role of Ryder Cup captain is vastly different today than it was in the 60s. 

"Back then [1963], there was a lot less for captains to do," Davies told Hawksbee and Jacobs on talkSPORT. 

"So I could see a captain playing back in those days, but now with all the huge media coverage and all their commitments, and it's huge commitments.

"I've been a vice captain on the Solheim Cup a few times, and I see how much a captain has to do during the week.

"Obviously the buildup, that doesn't matter, but during the week there's so much going on. I don't think you can play and be a captain. 

"I think, at best, he'll have to rely on one of his vice captains. Probably the obvious ones, Jim Furyk, to kind of take the role of all the press conferences and all the demands on the captain.

"I think it's good for the European team if he is the playing captain. He should just be a player and maybe let one of the other guys do most of the captaincy."

So what about those possible other guys? 

Woods, 10 years older than Bradley, is a name at the top of many people's thinking should he decide to pass over the captain's armband.

Woods was reportedly first approached by the PGA of America to replace Zach Johnson as Ryder Cup captain immediately after the stars and stripes were defeated by five points at Marco Simone, Rome, in 2023.

But Woods turned it down back then, citing he had too many other commitments in his world, and therefore Bradley was given a green light. 

Other options for the captaincy could include Jim Furyk or Fred Couples should Bradley decide to pass it up this September. 

But not Woods, at least in the eyes of Davies, who considers there's no chance the 15-time major champion would want to accept a hand-me-down captaincy. 

"I don't think Tiger would like to be the captain in those circumstances," Davies continued. 

"The reason you have those vice captains, and you choose them carefully, is because you know that, they can step in if need be, at any given time.

"Jim's already been the captain once before. I'm assuming his other vice captains are the ones we've known before, Freddy Couples, possibly I don't know who he's chosen, but I know Jim's there and he would be the obvious one for me."

Will Bradley pass up captaincy of the US Ryder Cup team, or will he become the first playing captain since late great Palmer? 

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