Keegan Bradley has already described Luke Donald as one of the greatest Ryder Cup captains of all time and the Englishman will certainly be in that fold if his side prevails in New York this week.
It’s easy to forget that Donald was never an automatic choice to be a Ryder Cup captain. He is a former World No.1 and a four-time Ryder Cup winner but was behind the likes of Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Henrik Stenson, possibly Graeme McDowell too, in the pecking order.
Had it not been for the emergence of LIV Golf, Donald may never have actually been a captain – what a world that would have been.
Henrik Stenson leaving for LIV and being stripped of the captaincy now looks to have been a stroke of luck for Europe, with Donald emerging as arguably the greatest modern day European skipper already.
His calm demeanour coupled with his intense competitiveness has been the perfect combination and the way he has taken to the job has been phenomenal.
From the behind-the-scenes work to the personal touches, nods to Seve Ballesteros and Europe’s history along with the way that all 12 players are once again fully set on competing for him has been a masterstroke.
‘One more year, one more year,’ was what the side were chanting last time out in Rome. You didn’t hear that for any of the other recent captains. That’s not a slight on any past captain but more of a testament to just how well Donald has done in the role.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
He has also handled the Ryder Cup pay debate perfectly, too, with Europe choosing not be paid while the US side receive $500,000 ($300,000 for charity plus a $200,000 stipend).
“This came up and I wanted to get ahead of it, and talked to the 12 guys in Rome when it looked like the US were going to do something different with payments,” Donald told Sky Sports in New York.
“Every one of them was like ‘No we don’t want to get paid, this isn’t a week to get paid.’
“We have such strong purpose in this team and what we play for, and to be honest we reinvest some of that money back into the experience of these guys.
“I feel like if you have those experiences that you remember for the rest of your life, that’s worth more than a couple hundred thousand dollars in the back of your pocket.
“For me, I was very proud of the guys. I…
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