Viktor Hovland 'pumped' about Luke Donald staying on as Ryder Cup captain

Two members of winning European team in Rome excited about repeat captain for 2024

Europe's Norwegian golfer, Viktor Hovland (R) embraces Europe's English captain, Luke Donald on the 15th green after winning his foursomes match on the first day of play in the 44th Ryder Cup at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome on September 29, 2023. (Photo by Andreas SOLARO / AFP) (Photo by ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP via Getty Images)

Luke Donald’s re-appointment as Europe’s Ryder Cup captain has left one member of his winning team in Rome feeling “pumped” while another has spoken about how the Englishman filled him belief in the event for the first time in three appearances.

On the back of winning back the trophy with a 16.5-11.5 success at Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome in September, Donald has become Europe’s first repeat captain for the biennial event since Bernard Gallacher did three matches in a row from 1991-1995.

In taking on the role again for the 2025 at Bethpage Black in New York, Donald now has his sights set on joining Tony Jacklin, who achieved the feat in 1985 and 1987, as the only European skipper to go back-to-back against the Americans.

“Yeah, I’m pumped,” Norwgian Viktor Hovland, this year’s FedEx Cup winner, told The Scotsman of Donald’s decision to stay on. “He did a great job. I think we’ll have some other challenges being in New York next time around. But I think he’s the right man for the job and I look forward to it already.”

The possibility of anyone being a repeat European captain was very slim indeed before the launch of LIV Golf and the subsequent decisions by the likes of Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Graeme McDowell to rule themselves out of the reckoning by no longer being DP World Tour members.

“Look, he obviously did a great job in Rome, so why not have him again?” added Hovland, who made his debut in the 19-9 hammering at Whistling Staits before enjoying a week to remember in Rome. “It makes it hard when you get a new guy and you have to go through the whole process again. He’s just been through it, so you might as will give him another go.”

Asked if there was anything in particular that stood out from the week in Italy, the world No 4 said: “I think they just planned it so well. It was clear that they had been very deliberate. There wasn’t really too much for him to say when we got there. Everything was laid back and we felt like we knew what we had to do and he just made us feel comfortable, which I think is the biggest thing a captain can do.”

Donald also deserved credit for the various components he put in place by having two former winning captains, Jose Maria Olazabal and Thomas Bjorn, brothers Edoardo and Francesco Molinari and 2012 team member Nicolas Colsaerts as his vice captains.

“Yeah, they all had different roles but complemented each other very well,” noted Hovland on the captain’s backroom team. “Edoardo’s stats and his demeanour while Nico was great on the first tee getting everyone fired up. Then you had Thomas and Jose Maria with their experience and obviously Francesco, too. He is ice cold to have in those moments as well. They are all just good people.”

Donald’s re-appointment was also warmly welcomed by Matthew Fitzpatrick, who played on losing teams at both Hazeltine in 2016, when Darren Clarke was at the European helm, and the aforementioned drubbing at Whistling Straits under Padraig Harrington’s captaincy.

“Delighted obviously,” said the 2022 US Open champion of knowing that Donald will be calling the shots once again as Europe bid to land a first win on US soil since the ‘Miracle at Medinah’ in 2012. “We’d heard that it was going to come but really pleased and I am sure all the other guys will be as well.”

Asked the same question as Hovland about the one thing that impressed him most agout the captaincy in Italy, Fitzpatrick declared: “Organisation. I think that was the big thing. He had back-up plans. My previous experiences I didn’t necessarily feel that way but Luke was really on it.

“I’ve got to give a lot of credit to him and a lot of credit to Edoardo Molinari with his stats as well. I think those two in particular worked really well together as a close-knit team and obviously it’s exciting.”

What will it take for Europe to hang on to the trophy in front of what is likely to be the most vociferous crowd in Ryder Cup history at Bethpage Black? “Twelve guys playing well - that’s all it is!” said a smiling Fitzpatrick.