If in America the pressure to convince Tiger Woods to captain the US team at the 2025 Ryder Cup in Bethpage (New York) is becoming increasingly high, there are several European players who are asking for the confirmation of Luke Donald at the helm of the Old Continent after the great success of Rome.
Justin Rose, statements
“He deserves reconfirmation, it’s not me who has to decide but I’m a big supporter of him”, the endorsement from Justin Rose, former world number 1, among the protagonists of the Ryder Cup in Italy and among the veterans of the Europe team.
“During his tenure he remained humble, bringing serenity. All the players were at ease, on the pitch and in the locker room. Donald had a plan and he carried it out brilliantly. Luke also deserves credit for the bond he managed to create in our team, he played his role to the best of his ability”, underlined the English Rose, gold medalist at the London 2012 Games.
The competition, named after the trophy donated by Englishman Samuel Ryder (1858–1936) to the American federation in 1924, is co-managed by the European Tour and the PGA of America. From 1927 to 1971 the tournament took place between the selection of the United States and that of Great Britain, with a clear American dominance (15-3) and only one draw.
Ireland was incorporated into Great Britain in 1973 and the rest of continental Europe in 1979. Following the acceptance of the European team as an antagonist of the US team, the tournament was much more balanced: from 1979 to 2018, in fact, there were eleven successes for Europe, eight for the United States and only one draw.
The Ryder Cup is hosted alternately on the two continents in odd-numbered years. For Europe, British golf courses have historically always been chosen, with the exception of the editions of: 1997, played at the Valderrama Golf Club (Spain) in honor of the former Spanish golfer Severiano Ballesteros, 2018 played in Saint-Quentin-en -Yvelines (France) and, lastly, in 2023, which was held at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club (Italy).
Due to the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, the scheduled edition of the Ryder Cup was played the following year, consequently moving the competition to even years, until the 2018 edition. The following tournament, scheduled for 2020, was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, thus moving the Ryder Cup to odd years again.