Rory McIlroy shuts down Ryder Cup 2027 captaincy talk and admits disbelief at Keegan Bradley's dual USA role

Rory McIlroy shut down talk of the 2027 Ryder Cup captaincy and says there’s no way Keegan Bradley can be playing-skipper for the USA.

The Northern Irish superstar reckons there was Euro disbelief at America’s pick for the role next year at Bethpage. McIlroy has revealed he briefly contemplated the position for his side's next home match at Ireland’s Adare Manor. But, given the mountain of work that needs to be done, he quickly understood it’s not even an option. McIlroy revealed: “Absolutely not. I’ve contemplated it for Adare and no, there’s much work that goes into it. I’ve seen what Luke [Donald] went through preparing for Rome. There’s no way you can be as good a captain as you need to be and be a playing captain as well.”

Asked if he’d given serious thought to Adare, he added: “It’s been mentioned and I’ve just said no way because it depends what do you want? If you want to be the best captain you can be, you can’t play.

“And if you want to be the best player you can be, you can’t captain. It’s one or the other, especially with how big the Ryder Cup has become and how many things you have to do in the lead up to the event, the week of the event.”

McIlroy insists Bradley will have to give up the job if he qualifies as a player as he continued: “Keegan is the 19th ranked player in the world, so he’s got a great chance of making the team. And then, if he does, I think he’s just going to have to give that captaincy role to one of his vice captains.”

McIlroy gave an insight into Euro team members' take on the selection as he said: “Definitely I think a surprise for everyone. We had dinner in London on Sunday night with Luke and he told us then. It’s an interesting appointment. The youngest captain since Arnold Palmer, I