Ryder Cup captains: List of USA captains for past 20 editions
The Ryder Cup in 2023 was a very disappointing outing for Zach Johnson. His first turn as captain resulted in a pretty dismal showing, with the USA being soundly defeated by Team Europe at Marco Simone. They had to stave off defeat for a long time, ultimately succumbing to just a slightly less embarrassing one.
It remains to be seen what the future holds for the captaincy. Johnson may or may not return in the role in 2025 when the USA will look to remove the sour taste of 2023's outing from their mouths. Others have had short and long turns as captains as well. Here are the previous captains from the last 20 outings.
Last 20 USA Ryder Cup captains revealed
In 1983, Jack Nicklaus was the USA captain for the Ryder Cup. He captained them to a win over Tony Jacklin's squad. In 1985, Lee Trevino took over and lost to Jacklin. Nicklaus took over again in 1987, but he couldn't defeat Jacklin again.
Raymond Floyd took over in 1989, again not being able to defeat Jacklin's team. Dave Stockton returned the glory to the US in 1991, defeating Bernard Gallacher's European team.
Tom Watson kept the winning streak alive in 1993, earning a victory over Gallacher. However, the European captain would get his revenge in 1995, this time beating US captain Lanny Wadkins.
Tom Kite took over in 1997 and lost to Seve Ballesteros. In 1999, Ben Crenshaw earned a win for the United States in the Ryder Cup over Mark James. Curtis Strange took over in 2002 and couldn't defeat Sam Torrance.
Hal Sutton was the captain in 2004 and Tom Lehman took over in 2006. Both lost, to Bernhard Langer and Ian Woosman, respectively. Paul Azinger took over the captain's role for the 2008 Ryder Cup, defeating Sir Nick Faldo.
Corey Pavin could not keep America's win streak going in 2010, though. He lost to Colin Montgomerie of Europe. Davis Love III couldn't return the winning glory to the USA in 2012, as he lost to Jose Maria Olazabal.
Tom Watson replaced him in 2014, but he was also unable to reverse the losses. Davis Love took over again in 2016, finally restoring the United States to the winner's column.
In 2018, Jim Furyk took the role and lost to Thomas Bjorn before ceding to Steve Stricker, who topped Padraig Harrington in the 2021 Cup. Then in 2023, Zach Johnson fell to Luke Donald.
In the future, there's no telling who might be tapped for the US captain. Rumors abound about Tiger Woods, Johnson and others. The USA will announce their next captain on Tuesday, July 9.