The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Donald sticks with trusty ‘Great Dane’
The 2025 European Ryder Cup team is beginning to take shape. While the US side are yet to name their captain for the clash in New York next year, Luke Donald is wasting little time in finalising his line-up.
Tiger Woods admitted he will sit down with PGA of America chief Seth Waugh this week to discuss leading the home side but Donald has already selected two vice-captains.
The Englishman “couldn’t be more excited” to have Edoardo Molinari back in the mix, naming the Italian as the first of five assistants for the match at Bethpage.
Announcing the news, Donald said: “My chief strategist, stats guru is back and I’m happy to share this journey with you Dodo (Molinari).
“Edoardo is someone I have got to know very well over the last couple of years and he’s going to be a great addition again for the 2025 Ryder Cup.”
Molinari had his brother Francesco, Nicolas Colsaerts and Thomas Bjorn for company in the winning European locker room in Rome. And another of those will be back again next September.
The “Great Dane”, Bjorn, has been named as the second vice-captain, insisting he cannot wait to return for a “bite of the Big Apple”.
“It was a natural progression from last time,” the 53-year-old 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.
“We had a fantastic environment in Rome. 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.”
Bjorn has twice been a part of the backroom team for European victories on American soil. He was involved at Oakland Hills in 2004 and at Medinah Country Club in 2012.
As well as two winning stints as a vice-captain, the Dane also led Europe to a convincing win in 2018 at Le Golf National in France.
Meanwhile, 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.
“This is an away Ryder Cup, so the earlier we can start planning, the better.
“It has more challenges than a home match, but now I have Edoardo and Thomas alongside me, I can get together with them and start the planning process around how we can create the right culture for the team to succeed in New York.”
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