Who will captain Team Europe in 2027? These Ryder Cup stars have a ‘great option’
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With the conversation about the next Ryder Cup captain for both teams now in full flow, one European player has thrown his weight behind one candidate in particular…
“Two more years! Two more years!” In between their own renditions of Freed from Desire and Zombie, the European fans used their Ryder Cup-winning celebrations to make it very clear who they wanted to lead their team at Adare Manor in 2027.
“I don’t think my heart could take it,” Luke Donald whispered into the microphone to a chorus of genial booing.
Later, in the team’s press conference, the 12 players who had just become only the fifth European team to win on US soil performed their own rendition.
Donald again shook his head. “I just want to enjoy tonight,” he said.
When the dust settled and Donald had gathered his thoughts, he told BBC Sport: “A lot of people questioned why I would do it a second time after doing it so well in Rome. But home and away is a different challenge and I’ve ticked both those boxes. Whether I do it again is something I’ll have to think about.”
The question marks over who will captain either side in Ireland is very much the next big Ryder Cup talking point.
With the surprise appointment of Keegan Bradley backfiring, the PGA of America will, it seems, have to go back to the drawing board with their formula. And with one favorite for the job already ruling himself out, it shortens the options somewhat.
But for Ryder Cup Europe, there are a few more options. While one might argue Donald has earned the right to try and write himself into the history books as the first captain on either side of the Atlantic to win three in a row, it would also be an immediate abandonment of the body’s new blueprint to appoint captains on a four-year cycle, where they first oversee a home match before staying on for the away leg.
Justin Rose is the other name being considered. He told TG in July that he wants the job – but then he qualified for this year’s team and harbors ambitions to be pulling on the jersey for an eighth time in 2027. As the man himself pointed out recently, it’s not a job that starts in 2027, it’s a job that starts in the next few months – and if the Bradley experiment has proved anything, it’s that you can’t juggle being Ryder Cup captain and playing at the highest level at the same time.
So who will it be? Matt Fitzpatrick, who was one of the stars at Bethpage, fancies Francesco Molinari for the job.
Molinari played in three Ryder Cups, including earning five points at Le Golf National in 2018, and – along with his brother, Edoardo – has been an integral part of Donald’s backroom team for the victories in Rome and New York.
“Fran was fantastic, as we all the vice-captains,” Fitzpatrick, who put two and a half points from a possible four on the board last week, said ahead of his return to regular tour life at the Dunhill Links.
“Fran is a great character to have around. He’s got great sense of humor and he’s very similar to Luke in that he’s quite quiet and reserved and probably very analytical in his thinking. He’s obviously a great option.
“I’m sure there’s plenty of people that are good enough to do the job. Luke has created a high bar for the next person that comes in.”
Tommy Fleetwood, who was unbeaten alongside Molinari as part of the ‘Moliwood’ pairing in Paris, is also keen on the idea.
“The ball is probably in Luke’s court, and I think he’s earned that. [Rose] is going to be playing in the Ryder Cup when he’s 102 years old, [so] we might have to wait a while for Justin to be a captain.
“I spoke to Francesco about it numerous times. I think the respect he has for his peers and the players, his accomplishments and his experience, goes a long way to being a Ryder Cup captain. It’s up to the individual if they want to put their names forward and see where it goes from there.
“Whether it’s Luke or anybody else, I think we have an amazing blueprint as Team Europe, and I think we have amazing captains lying in wait that will do an amazing job. We’ll see where we go in the future. But I think we are in good hands for a long time.”
Fitzpatrick also had plenty of praise for the elder Molinari sibling, who – through his work with a number or the world’s best players on his Statistic Golf platform and, more recently, Arccos Pro – has become the tour’s go-to man for data analysis.
“Edoardo is very under-appreciated,” Fitzpatrick, who keeps a painstakingly detailed statistical record of every shot he’s ever hit, continued. “He is very appreciated by Team Europe, but I think in the outside world, it’s very much, ‘Oh, he’s just the stats guy.’ But, to me, Edoardo is number one in the business by a complete mile.
“How he’s helped Luke and the vice-captains and how he’s shaped the team, pairings, qualification, has been outstanding. I think there’s a lot of credit that needs to go to Edoardo as well.”
It would certainly make sense for Molinari – Francesco, that is – to take charge for Adare Manor and Hazeltine in 2029, before Rose takes over for the next two in Spain and California respectively.
That is, of course, unless Donald succumbs to the chants.
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