Thomas Bjorn has become the latest former Team Europe Ryder Cup captain to publicly back Luke Donald for a third successive term as skipper for the 2027 edition in Adare Manor.
Should he opt in for a third stint, Donald could become the first European Ryder Cup captain to lead his side to three wins in a row having joined Tony Jacklin as the only European captains to win successive Ryder Cups following triumphs in Rome and New York.
Donald has been coy on whether he would remain at the helm for Adare Manor in two years but with no clear favourite to succeed him at present, Bjorn believes the Englishman is the ideal candidate to continue even if it meant vying away from the home-away captaincy method that Europe had stumbled upon in Rome.
“For me it’s how that group just stuck together through some pretty hard days on the golf course for them and how they stood up for each other, and everything that came at them from the outside just made them stronger as a group,” said Bjorn who was a vice-captain at the recent Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black where Europe won on American soil for the first time since 2012.
“Luke has a very unique group of players. I’ve said publicly as well, I know Monty has said I very much back him to do it again because I feel like this group of players is his players. He’s had them twice. They’ve been very successful. It’s hard to see that not nine or ten of them are in the next team. So it’s his players. He understands them. He works well with them.”
Bjorn made three Ryder Cup appearance for Europe in 1997, 2002 and 2014 – winning all three. While he also captained Europe to victory in Paris in 2018.
The Dane would love to see Donald remain as European captain to continue what he feels could be another golden era for the continent and he feels the way the team responded as a collective to the abuse they suffered in New York in September shows how closely knit everybody is.
To see how that group went through what was really tough on the golf course, how they just became stronger and better. I think it’s a very — for me it was a very special thing to see. I’ve always said within of the best days I’ve had in my life on a golf course was the time I didn’t play, and that was the Sunday at Medinah to watch that unfold.
“But I have to say the whole two weeks we spent pretty much in New York was pretty amazing, and I think this is a great time for European Ryder Cup team, and therefore I think Luke is the best choice for captain going forward because he understands this group better than anyone.”
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