For the third-straight term, Team Europe has tabbed Luke Donald as its Ryder Cup captain, letting him pursue something that has never happened in the 100-year history of the event: the same man leading three consecutive winning teams.
The question that remains unanswered, now 18 months from the event, is who will join him? Who will the Americans tab as their captain? And who from LIV Golf will be in the fold for the European team?
Donald has been a favorite for the role, likely ever since the winning evening of the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black five months ago. It was during that victorious press conference that Donald was asked about the potential for a third term. Before he could answer, his team of 12 began chanting, Two more years! Two more years!
Eventually, Donald spoke up, saying, “My answer is I’m going to enjoy tonight.”
He enjoyed that night and a handful of months before making the call. He weighed the pros and cons, even positing, “what if this doesn’t go right and we are the first team to lose at home in 34 years, does that taint anything?”
That answer is some 17 months away.
Donald has been heralded for his attention to the minutiae, not just empowering his vice captains to make strategic decisions but also changing out the bedding in the team hotel last fall. The sheets weren’t nice enough. If any of his decisions as a leader have felt like too much, the end result has always validated them. The Europeans thumped the Americans in Rome in 2023. Then they thumped them again on Long Island in 2025. The Americans have been playing catch-up to the Euros for years. Logistically, at the very least, that is set to continue.
Donald officially took the throne Wednesday, but has been leaning toward the decision for most of the last month. He’ll almost surely bring back members of his backroom staff — like statistician Edoardo Molinari — for the Cup at Adare Manor. Molinari played a major role in deciding course setup during the ’23 Cup in his home country of Italy, so much so that he was considered by some a candidate for the captaincy himself. Besides that, Donald said he’ll begin mapping out his vice captains in the coming months.
As for his American counterpart, that captaincy remains very unclear. Tiger Woods has been “asked for input” on the role, he said, adding he hasn’t made his decision yet. For the last few years, Woods has been awfully busy scheming out the future of the PGA Tour — too busy to commit to the many duties of a captaincy. It has left the PGA of America scrambling at times, especially in the case of Keegan Bradley, who was appointed to the position four months later than normal in 2024. Nonetheless, Woods would be considered the favorite for the role at the moment, in part because any others would likely be first-timers in the position.
It could be Webb Simpson, who has been involved with teams in the past. It could be Brandt Snedeker, who is set to captain the American Presidents Cup team later this fall. Will Bradley get another run at it? Or has Stewart Cink waited for this to be his turn? The PGA of America will likely continue waiting on Woods until he makes a decision. While it isn’t direly needed at the moment, each week that passes means one week closer to next year’s Cup.
A similarly foggy deadline exists for one of Team Europe’s best players, Jon Rahm, who has publicly expressed plenty of angst toward the DP World Tour, who operates Ryder Cup Europe. Rahm was allowed to compete for Team Europe in 2025 amid an appeal of sanctions levied against him by the European-based tour for his playing LIV Golf events at the same time as DPWT events. There are plenty of complex details behind that story, but most recently, the DPWT announced that eight of its members who play on LIV have reached agreements to add certain DPWT events to their schedule to avoid receiving fines and suspensions. Rahm was not one of those players, and he has since stated he does not intend to reach a similar agreement, putting his 2027 Ryder Cup availability in jeopardy.
So, how will Donald handle that?
He’s hoping the 16 or 17 months between now and the roster selection will offer “plenty of time” to figure it out. Donald has not spoken with Rahm about the issue yet, but admitted he will in the coming weeks. Guy Kinnings, DPWT CEO, joined Donald on Wednesday’s virtual press conference and was asked about the options Rahm has moving forward.
“I think it’s pretty straightforward,” Kinnings said. “You know, he either withdraws an appeal and settles fines or he goes through the appeal process, and that process is underway. And then we’ll obviously then have to go with whatever the decision is made in that appeal hearing.”
