On Wednesday, golf fans were greeted with the announcement that Luke Donald will return as European Ryder Cup captain, leading his team to Bethpage Black in 2025 in an attempt to reprise his winning campaign at Marco Simone this fall. It was a move teased as early as the post-match European press conference in Italy, though that happens often in the euphoria of victory, and usually without follow-through; no captain has served two consecutive cups for either team since Bernard Gallacher led Europe from 1991-1995.
The only other “returning” captains since were Tom Watson in 2014, brought back after first serving in 1993 by what we can safely call a rogue decision from PGA of America president Ted Bishop, and Davis Love III, who served as home captain in 2012 and 2016, the latter term when a flailing American side was seeking stability in the top job following the Gleneagles debacle. Otherwise, the captaincy has been seen as a one-and-done opportunity; in fact, when Colin Montgomerie campaigned for a second term in 2014, it was Rory McIlroy, among others, who publicly made that point explicit and helped secure the captaincy for Paul McGinley.
What changed this year, and why was it both smart and logical for Europe to rely once again on Donald?
First, from a purely competitive angle, winning a Ryder Cup on the road has become one of the toughest tasks in sport. Since 2006, the home team has won a staggering eight of nine Ryder Cups. The only exception came in 2012 at Medinah, when it took the greatest Sunday comeback in the history of the event from Europe to reverse what looked like another easy American home victory. In most of these Ryder Cups, it hasn’t really been close, with the European romp at Marco Simone marking the fifth straight home blowout. The reasons for this are a little mysterious—the most common explanations are a mix of hostile fan presence and course setup—but the obvious truth is that the away team needs to fight for every advantage it can get.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
