PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Luke Donald can’t hide his disappointment.
He tries his best, says all the right things, hopes his time will come, but the truth is he wanted the job of European Ryder Cup captain in 2023 in Italy and it was a tough pill to swallow when Guy Kinnings, Ryder Cup director, phoned and broke the news that Sweden’s Henrik Stenson was the man to lead Team Euro in Rome.
“I thought I had a chance this time but it wasn’t to be,” Donald said with a Brit’s stiff upper lip. “I was disappointed personally that I didn’t get the nod but that doesn’t mean I can’t do it down the road. I wish Henrik all the best and support him along the way.”
Donald, 44, was on the short list along with Scotland’s Paul Lawrie and Sweden’s Robert Karlsson. Donald said he made a 30-minute presentation to the three most recent Ryder Cup captains – Darren Clarke, Thomas Bjorn and Padraig Harrington – as well as David Howell, chairman of the DP World Tour tournament committee, and DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley.
Donald, who represented Team Europe four times as a player, played under four captains with different characteristics. He said Germany’s Bernhard Langer, captain in 2004, was the closest to Donald’s style and the most detail-oriented.
“This year, we’re really going to have to motivate the players to come back from what was a tough defeat,” said Donald, who served as a vice captain at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin when the U.S. routed Europe 19-9. “That defeat itself will give the players plenty of motivation to pick up their games. They didn’t perform nearly as well as they knew they could have. They faced a strong U.S. team but for whatever reason the players didn’t perform that well. We need to address that and make it better for a run.”
Europe’s Sergio Garcia and Luke Donald celebrate after winning the 2012 Ryder Cup at the Medinah Country Club in Medinah, Illinois.
Donald has been groomed for a future leadership role having worked in the back room during the last two Cups as a vice captain at Paris and Whistling Straits. If asked to do a third tour of duty as a buggy driver, Donald said, “I believe I would. It’s not an easy job but it’s less stressful job than being a captain or a player. It’s a busy job. We have quite a lot we’re doing, but I love being part of a Ryder Cup.”
Despite being snubbed this time for the captaincy, Donald still holds out hope that his time will come, but realizes there is a logjam of potential candidates among the likes of Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Justin Rose, Graeme McDowell and Sergio Garcia, just to name a few.
“I thought I had a good chance this year. Hopefully, that’s not my chance gone,” Donald said. “We have a lot of very worthy candidates, legends of the Ryder Cup, guys like Sergio, I don’t know how this whole Saudi thing is going to play out and if anyone is going to get knocked out because of that. That’s a little bit of a question mark.”
Donald said he would’ve liked his chances to captain in Italy, noting that the U.S. hasn’t won the Cup on the road since 1993. But that doesn’t mean he’s opposed to trying to win a road match, including throwing his hat into the mix for Bethpage Black in New York in 2025. Given that he’s been based in the U.S. since 1997, Donald hypothesized that the Team Europe selection committee may think he’s better suited to lead the Euro’s 12-man squad on foreign soil in the U.S.
“It’s a tough crowd (at Bethpage), but I haven’t given them too much ammo during my career,” Donald said. “I think I’d be fine and would love the opportunity.”
For now, Donald is focused on trying to improve his own game. He’s missed the cut at his last three starts heading into this week’s Valspar Championship and has dropped to No. 574 in the world. A decade ago, he returned to World No. 1 with a playoff victory at the Valspar at Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course.
“It doesn’t feel that long ago,” he said. “I remember a great 7-iron at the last. A 1-in-10 shot from a scruffy lie that came out perfectly to 6 feet below the hole and managed to slip it in the left-hand side of the cup to win.”