After this latest act of self-sabotage on his life and other vehicles, few are inclined to ask Tiger Woods to speed up a little. But the PGA of America might have other instincts on the subject of his pace.

They once again find themselves in an interminable wait for Woods’s decision on whether he wishes to captain their Ryder Cup side. In consideration of his latest retreat from public life and golf, announced as an indefinite period of absence on Tuesday, those guardians of Team USA could find themselves clock-watching for some time yet.

Naturally, there are questions of greater importance that need to be resolved from his crash last Friday, which necessitated a charge for driving under the influence and prompted a discovery of opioids in his pocket. For one: how many wreckages must there be before he hires someone fit to steer?

But of lesser consequence is a soft deadline for a Ryder Cup yes or no that had been set for around the time of the Masters. That deadline is understood to have been imposed as less of a demand by the PGA of America and more of a gentle plea for Woods to kindly hurry up after the debacle he inflicted on their 2025 preparations.

He had led them so far down the garden path prior to the last Ryder Cup that they ended up in the shed with Keegan Bradley, a fairly hapless captain burdened by the disadvantage of having only 14 months to get ready. His build-up would have been far more substantial had the team’s powerbrokers not lost so long in trying to seduce Woods to accept the job, only for him to eventually decide late in the day that he was too busy.

Now history is in danger of repeating at a point when the US risk losing three in a row. Naturally, it’s easy to see the captaincy as an overblown role and thereby play down its importance – a partially fair observation. But if Luke Donald has proven anything with his two wins, it is the merit of tiny details.

His reappointment was ratified a month ago and Daily Mail Sport understands he already has a site visit to Adare Manor, Ireland, lined up for the weeks after the Masters – a full 17 months prior to the 2027 match. His stats guru Edoardo Molinari is expected to join him on the reconnaissance mission of a course they already know well. That is what diligence looks like.

The US equivalent is a messier picture. Woods had long been seen as the only choice for the gig, largely because of his sheer standing in the game but also on account of his close relationship to the Irish billionaire, JP McManus, who owns Adare Manor. Such an agreement might well be part of the collateral damage caused by Woods’s decision to drive around Jupiter last week – many golf insiders think the crash has killed off the prospect in the immediate future.

As for the broader questions about the remainder of his golf career, the answers are unknown beyond confirmation from Augusta National that Woods will not be at the Masters next week.

His chances of playing were already slim prior to the crash, given his only swings since the 2024 Open Championship had been taken in his simulator league. Simply put, his many surgeries on back injuries, a ruptured Achilles and the right leg he almost lost in his serious crash of 2021 meant he was far from competition-ready long before he flipped his Land Rover.

Doubtless he will try again to play in a major – aged 50, Woods is still a fiercely competitive animal so expect him to be back in some form once this period of therapy ends. But his days as a serious entity ended years ago and his best hope of golfing wins surely reside on the seniors’ circuit, where he can at least use a buggy to spare those aching limbs. Regrettable but indisputable.

Quite how he reconciles himself with that status is one mystery among many. But Donald Trump may have touched on something broader than the physical when he said on Tuesday Woods ‘lives a life of pain’ – for all of his mistakes and self-inflicted problems, it is a sad tale.

Maybe his life would benefit from the focus and purpose of a more precise role, such as a Ryder Cup captaincy. The thrill would doubtless eclipse his involvement in golf politics, which has occupied his recent years between aborted comebacks.

Unfortunately, the question of whether he will take it is one of many that he has parked on the roadside for now.