The European Ryder Cup team continues to run it back.
On Tuesday, Luke Donald named Thomas Bjorn as his second Vice Captain for the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in New York from Sept. 26-28, 2025. Bjorn was a Vice Captain on Donald’s 2023 squad that beat the Americans 16½-11½ in Rome, Italy. It will be his sixth time as a Vice Captain in the biennial contest and 10th time overall he has been a part of Team Europe, including in 2018 when he was the captain for the European victory in Paris.
“It was a natural progression from last time,” Bjorn said. “Luke called me and said he wanted me to carry on into New York, understanding that it’s going to be a completely different Ryder Cup in 2025 at Bethpage. We had some conversations back and forth mostly about how to go from the victory in Rome and into a new set up for New York, debriefing on what happened in Rome and how we carry it forward.”
Bjorn, 53, is Donald’s second selection as Vice Captain. Edoardo Molinari, who was appointed in January, was the first.
“I am very excited to have Thomas back on the team,” Donald said. “Once I was appointed as Captain again, my thoughts quickly went to who I wanted to have in the backroom staff. And Thomas certainly was one of those. He means a lot to me. He’s passed on his knowledge and I’ve had a great relationship with him over the last few years. To have those relationships, to enjoy the people you’re spending time with along that journey is really important.”
As a player, he was part of three European victories in 1997, 2002 and 2014. Now, he’s back on Donald’s squad as the Europeans look to have similar success next year on American soil.
“We had a fantastic environment in Rome,” Bjorn said. “Luke did an amazing job. He was a fantastic leader, not just of 12 players, but of the whole Ryder Cup Europe team that worked so hard behind the scenes. It was amazing for me to be part of that because I knew how all of those things worked from Paris. To see how he added a few extra things in Rome and made it even better was amazing and I was very proud of him. He was exceptional.”
Garcia has been on the winning side six times in 10 Ryder Cup appearances.
AUSTIN, Texas — The Ryder Cup holds a dear place in Sergio Garcia’s heart, and rightfully so. The passionate Spaniard is one of the most decorated players in the history of the competition, starting his career at 19 as the youngest Ryder Cupper ever back in 1999 (a record that still stands) and he’s boasted an outstanding 25-13-7 record in 45 matches.
But Garcia, along with the likes of former European Ryder Cup stalwarts such as Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell and Martin Kaymer, was deemed ineligible to be selected to Luke Donald’s 2025 Euro squad because of the requirements to be a member of the DP World Tour, which runs the European side for the biennial matches. Garcia originally resigned from that tour in May.
The 44-year-old former Masters champion, who has played for LIV Golf since 2022, is intent on getting back onto the DP World Tour, and paid hefty fines of more than $800,000 to make amends. However, Garcia reportedly missed the deadline to apply for 2024 membership and is now hoping that current negotiations with PIF might allow a pathway back into the international competition.
“I look at it two ways. If I’m not able to play anymore it’ll be a little bit sad,” Garcia said while attending a fundraiser for Lions Municipal Golf Course, a municipal course in Austin where he resides with his wife Angela. “But at the same time, I look at it that I’ve played many, many times. I’ve been successful in it both individually and as a team. So that’s what I take from it.”
Sergio Garcia stands with his wife Angela on the green carpet prior to the Save Muny fundraiser at Austin City Limits Moody Theater. (Photo: Tim Schmitt/Golfweek)
Garcia has been on the winning side six times in 10 Ryder Cup appearances and has the most points (28 ½) of any European player. And Garcia hinted that a resolution to his situation was coming soon.
“Hopefully, things will kind of settle and, you know, we’ll see where everything sits at the end. And hopefully, they just give us the possibility — all of us — to be a part of it again if we’re playing well enough. We’ll see where that settles in the near future.”
Donald will return as the European Captain at Bethpage Black on Long Island, having led Europe to a 16½ – 11½ victory against the United States in the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome, Italy.
He will become Europe’s first repeat captain since Bernard Gallacher performed the role in three consecutive Ryder Cups in 1991, 1993 and 1995.
Donald will aim to become only the second captain to lead Europe to victories both home and away, following Tony Jacklin, who achieved the double at Muirfield Village in Ohio in 1987, retaining the Ryder Cup following his team’s victory two years previously at The Belfry, in England, in 1985.
Garcia would be a popular selection, if he found his way back onto the European side. Before he made the jump to LIV Golf, Jon Rahm openly lobbied for his fellow countryman, perhaps in a vice captain’s role.
“I think it would be really stupid of anybody not to lean on Sergio García’s experience in the Ryder Cup,” said Rahm when asked if he would like to see his friend back in the fold. “I mean, he is the best player Europe has ever had, won the most points and has shown it time and time again. If he were able to be a vice captain, I absolutely would lean on him.”
“There’s no question: if you cut me in half, it bleeds Ryder Cup, right?”
Don’t expect Ian Poulter to be a part of any future Ryder Cups.
A stalwart on the European Team that has won the biennial match five times, Poulter has a record of 15-8-2, including an undefeated mark in Sunday Singles.
He’s one of the most fiery competitors in the history of the event, and he was a shoo-in to be a future European captain. That was, until he left to join LIV Golf in 2022.
Now, it seems as if he won’t be involved in the Ryder Cup whatsoever moving forward.
“Too much happened last time,” Poulter told Gulf News. “Too much was said, and that’s extremely disappointing from my perspective with the way certain people were treated and spoken about with reference to the Ryder Cup, especially when certain people have committed a lot of their life to work extremely hard for that product.
“So, the way it stands right now, with the current people that run that level of the organization, things would have to change for me to be involved. That’s from an everything perspective, I’m not needed, they didn’t need me last time.”
Ultimately, longtime members of the European team like Poulter, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia and Graeme McDowell weren’t needed last year, as the Europeans beat the Americans at Marco Simone in Rome. Luke Donald, who replaced Henrik Stenson as captain when the latter also went to LIV Golf, did such a good job, he has been tabbed as captain for 2025 at Bethpage Black.
Many players who left LIV Golf resigned their membership on the DP World Tour, a requirement to be on the European Ryder Cup team. While players like Garcia said they’d be interested in rejoining the DP World Tour to try to get back into the Ryder Cup fold in the future, others like Poulter are waving goodbye.
Poulter understands his playing days at the Ryder Cup are done, but he could still have a role as captain or vice captain.
However, it seems that won’t happen, considering the landscape of professional golf and the things that would have to happen to mend relationships that have been severed.
“When you’ve given and committed so much of your career to want to be with a certain group of individuals, no matter what is said, good or bad, they will always be your teammates,” Poulter said. “I might not agree with some of the stuff they’ve said, and that would need to be aired and bridges rebuilt. But again, they didn’t miss us, they told us we weren’t missed and that’s OK.
“There’s no question: if you cut me in half, it bleeds Ryder Cup, right? But I also have my own self dignity and respect in there to not allow people to say certain stuff and disrespect you.”
“Merry Christmas from everyone at Ryder Cup Europe,” said captain Luke Donald, “and a happy two more years.”
When it comes to online content, the DP World Tour has dominated on social media compared to other tours and golf’s governing bodies. That’s why it’s no surprise that Ryder Cup Europe shared a hilarious video on Saturday.
In the video, winning 2023 captain and future 2025 captain Luke Donald is seen polishing one of seven Ryder Cups (most likely to represent the seven victories Team Europe has in the biennial bash against the Americans in the last 20 years).
“Merry Christmas from everyone at Ryder Cup Europe,” Donald said, “and a happy two more years.”
The 2025 event will be held Sept. 25–28 at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York. As mentioned earlier, Donald will return for two more years as the captain of the Europeans, while the U.S. have yet to announce a captain.
The video paid homage to some of the best chants from the 2023 edition in Italy – where the Europeans dominated – including Team Europe and Rory McIlroy’s celebration song, “the USA is terrified, Europe’s on fire.”
“Great opportunities don’t come along very often in life.”
Luke Donald has been named as the European Captain for the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in New York.
The 45-year-old Englishman returns to the role having led Europe to a 16½ – 11½ victory against the United States in the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome, Italy, earlier this year.
He will become Europe’s first repeat captain since Bernard Gallacher performed the role in three consecutive Ryder Cups in 1991, 1993 and 1995.
Donald will be aiming to become only the second captain to lead Europe to victories both home and away, following Tony Jacklin, who achieved the double at Muirfield Village in Ohio in 1987, retaining the Ryder Cup following his team’s victory two years previously at The Belfry, in England, in 1985.
“Great opportunities don’t come along very often in life, and I’m a great believer that when they do, you need to grab them with both hands – this is one of these moments,” Donald said. “I’ve been fortunate as a player to have had many amazing times in the Ryder Cup over the years and so to add being a winning Captain to that, to form bonds with the 12 players like we did in Italy and to get the result we did, was very special indeed.
“The Ryder Cup means so much to me, so to be Captain again and have the chance to create more history by becoming only the second European Captain to win back-to-back is exciting.
Team Europe captain Luke Donald arrives at the first tee during day one foursomes round for the 44th Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club. (Photo: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)
“There is no question that being a Captain away from home is a tough task. But I have never shied away from challenges throughout my career and it is precisely the kind of thing that motivates me. I can’t wait to get another 12-strong team to Bethpage in 2025.”
Initially, Donald was overlooked as 2023 Ryder Cup captain as Europe selected Sweden’s Henrik Stenson for the job, but Stenson was stripped of the honor when he bolted for LIV Golf, the upstart league. Donald was the second choice then, but he’s clearly the first choice now, and Team Europe decided not to wait to see whether any of the European players who departed for LIV and had previously appeared to be in the pipeline for captaincy, such as Lee Westwood or Ian Poulter, would return to the fold.
Donald was a member of the last European Team to win on American soil at Medinah Country Club in 2012, when he led Jose Maria Olazabal’s side out in the singles, securing the first blue point on the board in one of the most famous comebacks in the history of the biennial contest.
During his playing career, he represented Europe in the Ryder Cup four times as a player, being part of a winning team on all four occasions, contributing 10½ points from his 15 matches.
He then served as a vice captain in 2018, under Thomas Bjorn, and Padraig Harrington in 2021, before becoming captain for the first time at the 2023 contest in Rome.
Donald has won five times on the PGA Tour and another eight times on the DP World Tour and ascended to No. 1 in the world for a total of 56 weeks. In 2011, he became the first player in history to top the money lists on the European Tour (now the DP World Tour) and the PGA Tour in the same year.
“I have had a nice individual career; I have accomplished a significant amount as a player. My most special moments have been in The Ryder Cup editions, and being able to share that in a team atmosphere,” Donald said. “[Being captain] felt like a lifetime achievement award when I found out that I was given the honor and privilege to be nominated as captain. It is something that I do not take lightly. I think about it every day and more specifically around what we can do to give our team the best chance of success and to build that right culture and environment…Everyone knows how special The Ryder Cup has been as part of my career and this is an opportunity of a lifetime. It is a big responsibility but I am going to try and enjoy the journey.”
“America, to be honest, I looked and thought, ‘These guys, they’ve got too much peripheral vision.'”
Nick Faldo retired from his role as lead analyst for CBS Sports’s PGA Tour coverage, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t still a man of many opinions.
Speaking on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio’s “Gravy & The Sleeze” show Wednesday, Faldo, a former stalwart of Team Europe and team captain in 2008, touched on several topics including takeaways from last month’s Ryder Cup.
“The Big Four (European players) came in and you’ve got to get a huge bunch of points,” he said. “Then I thought it was very cool that our rookies, America doesn’t know a lot about our rookies, [Nicolai] Hojgaard and [Ludvig] Aberg and Bobby MacIntyre, they don’t know a lot about these guys and that can be very useful. So, which they obviously did, the captains can say, ‘Relax, you’ve all to gain this week. If you can just get me a point you’ve done a great job.’ Well, they did more than that. So we got that added bonus as well. And then we had to look at Zach’s picks, his six picks, I mean, all those guys are great guys, great golfers, but they were all running hot and cold, or trying to find their games and saying, you know, ‘I can turn it on for you, Captain.’
“But I’ve been there and got the T-shirt. When you’re not playing great at a Ryder Cup I can promise you it is the worst arena to be playing in because you are under so much pressure to do something for the rest of the team. And you won’t find it, and we saw all of that unravel. And Europe was extremely focused. You could literally see it in their eyes right on the first tee. They stood up there and looked down the fairway. And America, to be honest, I looked and thought, ‘These guys, they’ve got too much peripheral vision. They’re just looking at everything.’ And Europe was very focused on the job at hand, what they had to do.”
Faldo also addressed the differences he sees between the LIV Golf League and the PGA Tour.
“It is a different style of golf (LIV). And the Tour is the Tour, or the Tours, you know, and we would deem it as proper golf, 72 holes, 36-hole cut. All of that is all part of your learning experience. ‘Cause you’ve gotta strive, you know? Here’s the bottom line, you know, you’ve got to strive, you know, everything in life is a struggle, isn’t it? So you strive and from striving, you then achieve something,” he said. “So if you’ve achieved something, you then get satisfaction from doing that. And then from your satisfaction, you then create a memory. Well, if there’s nothing to strive for then there’s no memory. When I look back at my career, you don’t think of the dollar sign. You think, I went through a swing change for two years and then came out of it and finally winning, win my first major and what have you, and then became a pretty darn decent golfer for five years. That makes you proud of what you did. And that’s with me forever. I mean, that’s where I see a difference. Sure, I would’ve loved to earn tens of millions more. I’m not denying that. But there’s something about competing and putting yourself through the ringer, and then you feel proud of your achievements. … That’s why I think the Tour’s competitive golf will stand up because their tour is not the same competition. It really isn’t.”
“If LIV plucks a bunch of guys off of the Tour as is rumored, why would I even watch the Ryder Cup?”
Rory McIlroy put it best during Team Europe’s Ryder Cup winner’s press conference: Winning a Ryder Cup on the road may be the hardest thing to do in sports.
Considering that the U.S. side hasn’t won on European soil since 1993 and the Euros needed the Miracle at Medinah to rally from a 10-6 deficit to do so in 2012, McIlroy has a good argument. The home team has held serve ever since but more troubling is the fact that you have to go back to the 2012 edition of the biennial competition for the last time we didn’t have a blowout. Sundays have largely been a foregone conclusion as to which side is going to win.
Want to make the Ryder Cup great again? How about giving arguably the two best captains of the modern era another shot behind the wheel to see if either of them can win on the road. In other words, Paul McGinley, who guided the Euros to a beatdown of the Americans in Scotland in 2014, as Europe’s captain in 2025 at Bethpage, and Paul Azinger, who was brilliant at the helm in 2008 in Louisville, in 2027 in Ireland.
When I proposed this scenario to Azinger, he chuckled and said, “That would be awesome.”
“McGinley was a brilliant captain, he really was,” Azinger said. “There’s only so much a captain can do but he has a huge responsibility to create an environment, to create a message and get his players to out-prepare the other team. I might have said to this U.S. Ryder Cup team that if you were in the top six (an automatic qualifier to the team) do whatever you want, you made it, but the next six, you have to play the week before or two weeks before or I’m not going to pick you. That’s the way it is, sorry. You have to promise me you’re going to play. Everyone knew they didn’t play enough going in. That to me was the biggest way they out-prepared us.”
Europe players lift their captain Paul McGinley as he holds the trophy after winning the 2014 Ryder Cup.
Azinger laughed when I said let either Tiger Woods if he wants the job at Bethpage or Stewart Cink or even Fred Couples take a turn in 2025 but let’s get going on 2027 to end this seemingly endless losing streak on the road. The idea of taking another bite at the captaincy? He says that ship has passed.
“I lobbied in 2010 to carry the flag and win the cup on the road. The PGA of America told me, ‘There’s more captains than there are Ryder Cups.’ I said, ‘OK, that’s fine.’ They chose Corey Pavin. Then they get (Tom) Watson and (Davis) Love again. I wanted that challenge but it was 17 years earlier. I think I’m passed due. I’ll be 67. It’s not fair to a guy like Stewart Cink. I think he’ll be an awesome captain. I’d roll in as an assistant captain. They’ve got a clique going now. It’s the result of the Task Force. Sometimes cliques are incredible. Let’s not forget they won the last Cup by 10 points but I think it’s time to break the clique up…I worry that Tiger is going to want Freddie and Davis and Strick again. I would like to see a different group be in there as assistants that can be future captains.”
McGinley echoed a similar sentiment that his window for a return engagement as captain has closed.
“I think we’ve certainly nailed the home template but we haven’t written the template for away from home. I like the way you’re thinking but I think my ship has sailed in that regard. I’m 10 years aways from being a captain, I’m 56 years old, there’s a certain disconnection with the current crop of players,” he argued.
But McGinley, too, recognized that winning on the road has become the white whale for Ryder Cup captains and it was something he once desired.
“I think it so much more difficult away and I’d have loved to have written the away template but I thought it was greedy to go again,” he said. “I knew there were a lot of guys waiting patiently behind me and I thought it would be unfair to go again.”
But what once was a backlog of potential captains has become a shortage due to LIV, which wiped out Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson, Graeme McDowell and Paul Casey for Team Europe and Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson and (eventually) Dustin Johnson from consideration. Let’s take this unique moment in time to determine once and for all which of these brilliant leaders of men can steer his team to victory away from home.
Azinger and McGinley both lived and breathed the job for two years and understood team dynamics better than anyone before or after in the captaincy role. Both are still active in their role as TV commentators and have a handle on the pulse of the game.
“I think I’d rather broadcast it, thank you, though,” Azinger said. “I think it’s really important at this point to have someone of their era who really knows the players.”
Who does he think should lead Europe into the hostile environment that will be Bethpage Black in 2025?
“It’s going to be contentious. Luke Donald is the perfect personality type. Otherwise, I would love to see Sergio (Garcia) but it will never happen. If I’m them, I’m bringing the most polished professional I can bring. If you can find anyone more polished and buttoned up than Luke, let me know,” he said.
“It wouldn’t be a big surprise if Luke was to go again,” McGinley added. “In an ideal world, you should do two captaincies – one home and one away. That would be a real test of the captain, wouldn’t it?”
Azinger expressed one concern for the Ryder Cup going forward: Will the U.S. be able to field its best team?
“I really fear for the next Ryder Cup,” he said. “If LIV plucks a bunch of guys off of the Tour as is rumored, why would I even watch the Ryder Cup? That’s the way I’m feeling about it. It’s just not America vs Europe anymore. I mean, it is, but it wouldn’t be our best players. I fear for the Ryder Cup because of LIV.”
You heard it here first: McGinley in ’25, Azinger in ’27. Let’s settle who is the best captain once and for all.
There’s a good chance the trash talk between the two teams won’t stop until 2025 at Bethpage Black.
The United States’ struggles in Europe continued at the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club outside Rome, losing to the Europeans 16½-11½.
Many of the players who participated in the biennial bash stayed put for a few days after Sunday night to take in the sights and spend some time with their loved ones.
Justin Thomas was part of that group, and he posted a photo dump of a Lake Como vacation with his wife, Jillian, to his Instagram.
One of the comments on the post came from European Ryder Cupper Shane Lowry — who went 1-1-1 in Italy — who posed a simple question: “Any pics from Rome???”
JT — who went 1-2-1 — replied, saying, “Shane it’s been two weeks and was starting to forget……”
More than 270,000 people from 100 different countries attended the 2023 Ryder Cup to watch the Europeans defeat the Americans, 16½-11½, and reclaim the cup at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club near Rome, Italy.
Even more watched from home.
On Tuesday, Ryder Cup Europe shared early numbers that showed a rise in average viewership on Sky Sports, particularly in the United Kingdom, which saw a 38 percent increase compared to the 2021 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits and a 25 percent increase from the last European-hosted Cup in 2018 at Le Golf National near Paris.
“The 2023 Ryder Cup in Italy once again underlined the global appeal and continued growth of one of the world’s leading sporting events,” said Guy Kinnings, Executive Director of the Ryder Cup. “This year’s contest, played against the backdrop of the historic city of Rome, truly connected with fans around the world, and our early figures show significant increases in engagement even from the recent record-breaking editions.”
While the 2023 edition was the most watched Ryder Cup ever on Sky Sports, the NBC Sports coverage in the United States left fans wanting more.
Not even two hours into the coverage of the Friday foursomes matches and television viewers who were awake at 1 a.m. ET for the start were already fed up with the coverage (or lack thereof).
Airing on USA Network, the broadcast missed the introductions and tee shots from the third match of Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka vs. Rickie Fowler and Collin Morikawa and showed more commercials than golf shots. This year’s broadcast featured a score bug in the bottom right of the screen that showed the matches and live results, which was a nice innovation, except when the coverage didn’t provide context for how those scores came to be.
The 2025 Ryder Cup, the 45th playing of the biennial bash between the U.S. and Europe, will be held at Bethpage Black in New York.
So who’s going to be the U.S. captain in 2025 at Bethpage Black?
Speculation is ramping up but Davis Love III, who led the U.S. to Ryder Cup wins in 2012 and 2016, knows who should get a call in the immediate future.
“We’ve got to call Tiger Woods and ask him,” Love said at Timuquana Country Club in Jacksonville, Florida, ahead of the Furyk & Friends. “I think if he wants … obviously Tiger’s into a lot of stuff right now, but it’s kind of his call, I would say. I hate to put pressure on him, but it’s kind of his call. Obviously, with some guys out, he’s the next logical choice.”
When asked about the strategy of bringing in some new blood in the captain’s spot, Love didn’t hesitate to admit it’s time for him to move on.
“They need to get rid of guys like Davis Love and probably Fred Couples and move on. I’m lobbying for it,” he said, admitting it will be difficult to step away and let others take over the reins.
“It’s incredibly hard. I told a few people over at the Ryder Cup, I said, ‘man, this is my last time’, and they were like ‘no, no, no’, and I’m like ‘yeah, yeah, yeah, it’s time.’ I told that to Tiger in 2019, I said I’m done. He said, ‘yeah, you’re right, probably time, who do we think we ought to get, young guys,’ and then [Steve] Stricker brought me right back in the next year.
“You know, I’ll never quit helping if they want me to help, but I’d be better in logistics now, behind the scenes. Tiger’s been a big help behind the scenes. Maybe that’s what he and I want to keep doing is stay behind the scenes and help out Stewart Cink or whoever the next guy is.”
Love also mentioned Webb Simpson, an assistant captain on the winning 2022 Presidents Cup team, as a solid future choice for Ryder Cup captain.
