JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Add Stewart Cink to the list of former American Ryder Cup players who are itching for a chance to be the next Ryder Cup captain and end the U.S. losing streak in Ireland in 2027.
"Heck yeah I'm interested in being the Ryder Cup captain. I would love to," Cink said on Thursday ahead of Furyk & Friend's, this week's PGA Tour Champions stop. "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, 52, knows he has the credentials for the position: he's a five-time Ryder Cupper and represented the stars and stripes at the Presidents Cup four times. Cink, an eight-time PGA Tour winner who also won the 2009 British Open, was also an assistant captain in the backroom for one of each Cups, but it's not in his nature to self-promote for the job. He's modest to a fault (except for bragging about his barbecue skills).
"It's not something you would go out and sell yourself on. I don't think I'm campaigning for an election, but I hope I get a chance to be Ryder Cup captain and turn this thing around for the United States," Cink said.
There was a school of thought that expected him to be named captain for Bethpage Black this year when Tiger Woods decided to pass on the job this go-round. Cink participated in what he termed a phone interview with U.S. team manager John Wood about two months before Keegan Bradley was selected to be the captain in July 2024.
"I thought it went well, but I haven't received one word since then," Cink said. "Never got a call back that said we're going in another direction. All I know is at the end of the conversation it sounded like, 'Things looks pretty good for you.' Never heard another word."
Cink was at the 2024 Scottish Open last July when his wife informed him that it was being reported that Bradley would be announced as the captain of the 45 Ryder Cup instead of him.
"I was gutted. I thought I had a pretty good shot at it," he said. "It's not a selfish thing though; I want the team to be the best team it can be. I thought the PGA got themselves into a mess this year because Keegan was one of our top 12 players and because he was captain, they kind of prevented him from playing. I don't have any desire or designs to think that I will be on the next team. So, we can remove that topic right away. But I'm not that far removed from playing out there every week and the majors and even winning tournaments."
In other words, there's no reason to think his window for the job has closed. Bradley was a sympathetic choice for captain after being snubbed for a captain's pick in 2023. Could Cink receive his version of a makeup call? He was adamant that he would do whatever was necessary to get the job done. "If I had to be on Tour every week, I'd be on Tour every week," he said.
Cink said he has a lot of ideas on how to shake things up, but said it was premature to discuss them in detail.
"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," Cink said. "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."