Ryder Cup 2016: Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker Named US Vice Captains

The United States Ryder Cup team announced on Wednesday that Tiger Woods will be among its three vice captains for the 2016 showdown against Team Europe.

Woods will join captain Davis Love III and fellow vice captains Steve Stricker and Jim Furyk as Team USA attempts to wrest the Cup away from Europe after three straight losses at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota.    

Although he is still on the mend from his latest back surgery, Woods expressed a desire to play if possible in addition to serving in his leadership role, according to a statement through the team's official website:

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I'd like to thank Davis for his confidence in me and for my selection as a Ryder Cup Vice Captain. This is something I want to do. I will continue to do whatever I can to help win the Cup back. Once I'm fully healthy, I'd like to try to make the team too, but either way, I'm very excited to work with Davis, the other Vice Captains and the players to get a U.S. victory.

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Alan Shipnuck of Sports Illustrated praised the move to make Woods a vice captain as Team USA hopes to defend its home turf beginning on Sept. 30:

No matter what tactics the U.S. has deployed of late, nothing has really worked. In addition to the U.S. failing to claim the Ryder Cup in the past three competitions, the Americans have won the title just once in the past seven events.

The Ryder Cup hasn't been much of a rivalry, and the captains, to be frank, have little control over how the individual players fare. They can scheme certain lineups and hopefully find chemistry during group play, but the USA has struggled to match Team Europe's camaraderie in recent years.

Few individuals can garner the respect Woods deserves, though—even at this late stage of his career, which has been plagued by injury.

There is a wave of young American talent headlined by Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler. Other emerging, fiery players like Brooks Koepka and Justin Thomas are also in the running to make the 2016 team.

If Woods were to somehow return to form in 2016 well enough to play in the Ryder Cup, he'd provide a shot in the arm the Americans and their fans desperately need. However, with the aforementioned bevy of budding stars to compete with, the 39-year-old legend has his work cut out for him to be anything more than a strategist on the sidelines for Team USA.

The most realistic player-vice captain combination figures to be Furyk, who is still contending on the PGA Tour at age 45 and is ranked No. 9 in the world at the moment. Furyk has appeared in 30 matches, third among active players to Phil Mickelson (38) and Woods (33).

Stricker still plays on occasion but has stripped down his schedule of late. He will likely be content to be a mentor after serving as a vice captain for the 2014 Ryder Cup squad.