Earlier this month, Thomas Bjorn was appointed European Captain for the 2018 Ryder Cup. With this early appointment, the attention has turned to the U.S. as they look to appoint a captain who can lead his country to back-to-back victories in the competition, a feat the U.S. hasn’t achieved since the early 1990s.

The leading contenders for the job are Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker and Fred Couples. Furyk is currently the odds-on favorite for the job with bookmakers, but despite having the utmost respect of his peers and the experience of being Vice Captain on the 2016 winning U.S. team, the timing seems off for the native Pennsylvanian.

Furyk finished 15th in Ryder Cup points last time around despite missing four months of 2016 due to injury. At just 46, he has an excellent opportunity of qualifying for the team in a playing capacity in 2018. Shooting 58 as recently as August and finishing T2nd at this year’s U.S. Open at Oakmont proves Jim still has a lot of game left in him. His time for captaincy will come, but 2018 seems unnecessarily rushed.

With Steve Stricker already assigned to the role of 2017 Presidents Cup captain, it would make sense to wait and see how he and the U.S. team perform before handing him the role of Ryder Cup captain. At the relatively young age of 49, there is no need to thrust two massive roles upon the semi-retired Stricker.

In terms of experience and credentials for the role in 2018, Fred Couples blows both out of the water.

It was a big surprise when Couples was overlooked for the 2016 captaincy in favor of Davis Love III. It was a decision that certainly worked out for the Americans, however, as they recorded an emphatic 17-11 victory over the Europeans.

It has been a mystery as to why exactly Couples hasn’t been offered the role in the past. He is the most successful Presidents Cup captain of all time, overseeing powerful U.S. victories in 2009, 2011 and 2013. Further, all of these convincing wins were followed by U.S. Ryder Cup defeats in the following years.

Granted the Presidents Cup and the Ryder Cup are different animals, with the standard of the opposition differing in both strength and intensity. Those three victories, however, surely make the Seattle native a natural and deserving fit for the step up to Ryder Cup captaincy.

At 57, time is running out for Couples, who hasn’t been shy in stating how much he’d love the job. By 2018, he would be one of the oldest captains in Ryder Cup history. Tom Watson was 65 years of age in 2014, and some questioned whether he was too old at the time. His calamitous performance as captain that year assured that age would be a factor in the decision-making process in the future.

With sub-50-year-olds Furyk and Stricker seemingly being groomed for leadership roles, 2018 may well be the last opportunity for Fred Couples.

The major criticism of Couples seems to be that he is too laid back to be Ryder Cup captain. Yet his demeanor has had a positive effect on his players in the Presidents Cup through the years. The best example of this is he managed to get the best out of Tiger Woods, who has rarely excelled in team competition. Tiger boasts an impressive 11-4 Presidents Cup record under Couples, compared with a 13-11-1 record without him.

With the 2018 Ryder Cup being held in France, the size of the task is doubled for the U.S. The Americans have not won a Ryder Cup held in Europe since way back in 1993, and Couples was a part of that winning team. His experience could count for a lot, and puts Couples in a strong position as he chases a job he dearly covets.

But the biggest indication that Couples may once again be snubbed is the fact that he wasn’t involved in any capacity in this year’s winning U.S. Ryder Cup team. It was a decision that must have hurt Couples, who Love III had previously appointed to be one of his vice captains of the 2012 U.S. Ryder Cup team.

Whether or not being left out of the Ryder Cup loop proves to be fatal to his chances remains to be seen. When all is said and done, Fred Couples has earned the right to be given a chance to lead a U.S. Ryder Cup team. He has served his apprenticeship successfully through the Presidents Cup and he has the experience of being a vice captain at the Ryder Cup.

If it is now or never for Couples, it undoubtedly should be now.

Related: See who GolfWRX Members are saying should be the next U.S. Ryder Cup Captain in our “Tour Talk” forum.