‘Two more years!’ Luke Donald wins another Ryder Cup and European players want their captain back

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (AP) – Luke Donald tinkered with lineups. He tinkered with the shampoo and bedding at the team hotel.

Whatever it took to give Europe an advantage in the Ryder Cup, Donald seemed to think of it.

No wonder everyone at Bethpage Black, from President Donald Trump to U.S. captain Keegan Bradley, raved about Donald’s leadership.

“I think he’s the best European Ryder Cup captain of all time, Luke Donald,” Bradley said.

No argument from Donald’s players, who made clear after their 15-13 victory that they want Donald back for a third time in 2027.

“Two more years! Two more years!” the Europeans chanted at their victory ceremony and again at their press conference.

“I don’t think my heart can take two more years,” Donald said. He declined to address if he’d consider a third captaincy.

Still, he should probably count on being asked. When you have someone as good as Donald, you don’t let them go easily.

The 47-year-old Donald wasn’t even Europe’s first choice for the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome. The Europeans had selected Henrik Stenson for those matches, but he bolted for LIV Golf’s Saudi riches, and the European tour stripped him of the captaincy and gave it to Donald.

Despite a short window to get ready, Donald led Europe to a 16 1/2 to 11 1/2 victory then. With full preparation this time, he constructed a powerful team that built a huge lead in the team sessions and held on Sunday.

Donald wouldn’t reveal too many secrets of his success, but players point to his communication and preparation.

“He is the captain of this ship, and he’s led us better than I can see anybody leading us,” Jon Rahm said. “He set the bar extremely high for the future captains.”

Immediately after victory in Rome, the Europeans turned their attention to winning on the road. Donald kept their focus on that goal by outfitting players in practice shirts with nods to those victories in 1987, 1995, 2004 and 2012.

Once they arrived in New York, Donald’s work began well before any shots were hit at Bethpage Black.

“My job is literally to give these guys a better chance to win. It can be as simple as some very small things,” Donald said. “I’ll give you an example. At the hotel rooms this week, the doors to our hotel rooms had a big crack that let in light. We brought things that covered the light. We put different shampoos that had a better smell.

“We changed the bedding because the beds weren’t very good, and they just had sheets, and we created much nicer beds so guys could sleep. They could have more energy. Those are just little things.”

It once wasn’t unusual for Great Britain and Ireland, and then Europe, to trot out captains again. Tony Jacklin did four straight times, and when he won in ’85 and ’87, he turned it over to Bernard Gallacher, who did it three straight times. But dating to Seve Ballesteros in 1997, it rarely happened until Donald.

The former No. 1-ranked player competed in four Ryder Cups for Europe as a player, going 10-4-1, but he’ll be best remembered as its captain – whether he returns or not. When Trump attended the opening day of the matches on Friday, Donald said the president told him that he was “becoming a real great leader.”

Bradley thinks his role made him one.

“He’s really quiet, and I think he was able to kind of come out of his shell, I guess, a little in these Ryder Cup years,” Bradley said.

And built what Bradley called an “unstoppable force” of a team. Donald has enjoyed the opportunity. Now he may have to decide if he wants to do it again.

“I think those weeks we spend together are the ones we remember the most and the ones we cherish the most because of the time we get to spend with each other,” Donald said. “That’s a big part of my captaincy, is to create an environment where these guys are having the best weeks of their lives, honestly. We’ll always remember this. We’ll always go down in history.”

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AP Ryder Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/ryder-cup