One of the greatest honors that can be bestowed on an American or European male pro golfer is to be named captain of their own Ryder Cup team.

That special person must be able to successfully set up his host course to the advantage of his team, scout a number of players that are not automatically qualified, take on the extra public relations job that comes with being a Ryder Cup captain and play his own game. All that to deal with is before the event actually takes place.

At the event, the captain must ensure that all the egos are in check, try and pair players that compliment each other’s games, not panic if the team gets behind and try and build a team mentality in a sport that features individuals 99 percent of the time.
Providing championship ping pong facilities help but, unlike other sports and coaches, all this is for a three-day event that happens every other year. If you read about how upset an NFL coach is the week after a loss, imagine having two years pass just to win a cup back.

Still, it is the ultimate honor and there are several captains of the future that will be well in the fray in two weeks at Medinah Country Club when Davis Love III and Jose Maria Olazabal’s squads face off in golf’s most partisan event.

While there is no hard and fast rule that prohibits previous captains from having a second time around, with the quality of players in the wings makes it very hard to justify. Having said that, a rematch of the 2008 Ryder Cup between Paul Azinger and Nick Faldo would be very interesting. Azinger was the last American captain to win the cup while Faldo lives in the United States full time and has fully scouted the American team.

It also seems pretty certain that Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia will be high on the list in the future to captain. They both have deeply embraced the event and are charismatic figures. Mickelson is held in very high regard by the younger players and Garcia is absolutely great in team settings and in motivation.

If the teams wanted to take a crack at having playing captains, look no further than Tiger Woods, Lee Westwood and maybe Rory McIlroy. While Woods record is not stellar, his laser-like focus and course management skills would come in extremely handy for an American team, especially if it had a few rookies on it. Westwood’s automatic days of making the team are closer to the end than not at 37, but he would be a great example of showing the European team what they needed to do while guiding the team through it.

McIlroy would be a surprise pick in the next 10 years or so because of his age, but if he continues to show the personal maturity he has so far, others would rally around him and give Europe a formidable advantage. He certainly is a lock after his playing days are done.

If the United States was looking for another Ben Crenshaw kind of captain, speaking softly and having a great feeling about coming back, then Steve Stricker and Matt Kuchar are of that mold. Bernhard Langer and Luke Donald are European prospects that would fit the same build.

If either team wanted to take a chance on a guy with an outside the box mentality, then look no further than Darren Clarke or David Feherty for Europe and Bubba Watson or Mark Calcavecchia for the United States. They would be risky picks, but these gentleman thrived in their careers playing risk-reward golf.

Any way you go, the future is very bright for the Ryder Cup.