Phil Mickelson suggests ‘Coach K or Lou Holtz’ for Ryder Cup captain

As soon as the Ryder Cup concludes, the takes on what went wrong — or right — for the U.S. team start rolling in. And in the wake of the Americans’ crushing loss to Europe at Bethpage Black, 12-time U.S. Ryder Cup player (and all-time U.S. Ryder Cup points leader) Phil Mickelson waded into the online debate.

On Tuesday, Normal Sport’s Kyle Porter posted an open question on X: “If the question being posed is, “Man, Europe’s excellence seems to emanate from a trust that is built by establishing relational equity and world class communication at every turn. Who can we get to build our version of that?” I don’t think “Tiger Woods” is the answer,” he wrote.

Mickelson then posted a lengthy reply.

Here is why looking outside of golf to a coach K or Lou holtz is worth exploring. 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…

— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) September 30, 2025

“Here is why looking outside of golf to a coach K or Lou holtz is worth exploring,” he wrote. “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 2 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.”

Coach K — or Mike Krzyzewski — famously coached men’s basketball at Duke for 42 seasons, winning five NCAA national championships and accumulating the most wins of any coach in NCAA Division I men’s basketball history. Coach K also led the U.S. Men’s National basketball team to three Olympic gold medals and three world championships during his tenure. His leadership skills have made him one of the most revered coaches in history. Holtz gained a reputation for turning around ailing football programs and coached a number of college teams to bowl games. He famously won a national championship with Notre Dame in 1988. After he retired from coaching, Holtz worked as a college football analyst for both CBS and ESPN where his humor and relatability made him a popular figure.

When one user on X pointed out that Holtz will be 90 years old when the next Ryder Cup is played in Ireland in 2027, Mickelson replied “Lou Holtz type coach” with a face-slap emoji.

It’s clear that Mickelson believes something is lacking with U.S. Ryder Cup leadership. In 2014, Mickelson publicly criticized U.S. captain Tom Watson during the team’s post-loss press conference at Gleneagles in Scotland. Mickelson was once thought to be an obvious choice for the role of captain, but his move to LIV has rendered that unlikely until there is a partnership in place. When one user replied to Mickelson’s post that he is the answer the U.S. needs, Mickelson replied, “Flattered, but I am not.”

The next U.S. Ryder Cup captain has not yet been announced. The 2027 Ryder Cup will be played on September 13-19 at Adare Manor in Ireland.

Golf.com Editor

As a four-year member of Columbiaâ€s inaugural class of female varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everyone on the masthead. She can out-hustle them in the office, too, where sheâ€s primarily responsible for producing both print and online features, and overseeing major special projects, such as GOLFâ€s inaugural Style Is­sue, which debuted in February 2018. Her origi­nal interview series, “A Round With,†debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in both in the magazine and in video form on GOLF.com.

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