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Europe\u2019s captain left no stone unturned before the tournament, even hiring a comic \u2014 who called Hatton, front row, second left, a Tesco bouncer \u2014 to prepare his team for the barbs of the New York crowd<\/p>\n
VAUGHN RIDLEY\/SPORTSFILE<\/p>\n
In the weeks after Rome 2023<\/a>, Donald woke in a cold sweat after having nightmares that the USA team had prevailed. The role of captain was even more consuming second time around given all the preparation for such a hostile crowd, but the 48-year-old left Bethpage with a sense of closure \u2014 even if the job may not be finished.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Rome I felt just as much pressure but this was more satisfying because it was a greater challenge,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was a lot of stress, for sure, a lot of relief. I probably enjoyed the first one more because of the negativity in New York. That\u2019s just not my personality. I shy away from that stuff.\u201d <\/p>\n Donald is so even-tempered that he was ungraciously nicknamed \u201cThe Plodder\u201d during his ascent to world No1 but, in his first in-depth interview since retaining the Ryder Cup, he is not afraid to voice his feelings about the PGA of America\u2019s inability to control the boorish fans. <\/p>\n After Rory McIlroy<\/a>, in particular, was subjected to a torrent of personal abuse<\/a>, Don Rea, president of the PGA of America, had the audacity to suggest the atmosphere was \u201cno worse than a youth soccer game\u201d. <\/p>\n \u201cThat was disappointing because anyone who was in Rome and New York knew it was completely different,\u201d Donald says. \u201cSinging \u2018Hats off to your bank account\u2019 [as European fans did in Rome] is slightly different to \u2018F*** your five-year-old\u2019 or whatever it was, and this wasn\u2019t just one or two guys, it was hundreds, maybe thousands.<\/p>\n The behaviour of Team USA fans became one of the most hotly debated topics of the Cup<\/p>\n BEN DICKSON\/NEWSDAY RM VIA GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n \u201cAs a leader, you have a responsibility. Nobody\u2019s perfect. We all make mistakes and f*** up. Just own up to it. Just say, \u2018We should\u2019ve done more. This isn\u2019t acceptable and we will do better next time.\u2019 I would\u2019ve loved to have heard that message rather than, \u2018Well, it happens and it happened over there.\u2019 I don\u2019t think that\u2019s what leaders should do.\u201d <\/p>\n Donald\u2019s own drive to become the best possible figurehead is remarkable for its obsession. Across both captaincies, he read more than 20 books about building winning cultures and he barely went a day in between them without speaking to a player in contention for the team. <\/p>\n \u201cThat was my goal. I didn\u2019t quite accomplish it, but I was close,\u201d he says. Although it would have been easy to rest on a winning blueprint, Donald, with the help of his stats guru, Edoardo Molinari, immediately set about \u201cripping up\u201d the qualification system to ensure he could pick the best players for New York and preparations were already in full swing by the Scottish Open in 2024, 444 days before the first tee shot.<\/p>\n \u201cMy main focus was the crowd and how we deal with that,\u201d Donald says. \u201cWe had a team get-together and I brought in Brian Johnson, who I\u2019ve followed for ten years-plus. He has an app called Heroic, which is about leaning into the best version of yourself, and he talked about this theme of anti-fragility. Resiliency is being able to take it. Anti-fragility is when something really bad happens to you, you actually get stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to keep getting in the players\u2019 minds,\u201d Donald says of his famously meticulous methods<\/p>\n ANDREW REDINGTON\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n Initially, Donald had planned to get all the players on the app, but he settled on sending weekly emails to them instead to drum home the theme. <\/p>\n Johnson was far from being the only speaker Donald recruited. The performance coach Owen Eastwood, whose book Belonging was first on Donald\u2019s reading list, was another influential voice. So too was Professor Geir Jordet, the world-leading expert on penalty shoot-outs, who visited the players at Wentworth shortly before the Ryder Cup to advise them about controlling their emotions under extreme pressure. \u201cI just wanted to subconsciously keep getting in their minds,\u201d Donald says.<\/p>\n There were other more unusual gimmicks that garnered attention \u2014 and a few scoffs too. At the Team Cup in January, Donald employed a comic to heckle players; Tyrrell Hatton was called an Amish farmer and a Tesco bouncer.<\/p>\n The players also tried VR headsets at Wentworth that simulated the 1st tee at Bethpage. The attention to detail extended to the team hotel, where Donald\u2019s wife, Diane, made a number of adjustments, including improving the quality of the bed sheets, the duvets and the toiletries, as well as fashioning blockers to stop light getting underneath the doors. \u201cShe got a message from an American former player\u2019s wife [who was staying at the team hotel] saying she didn\u2019t sleep very well because the sheets were so thin, so sometimes those things can make a difference,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n But Donald was not afraid to rock the boat a little, either. Throughout his career he clung on to perceived slights as fuel, much like his good friend Michael Jordan. Nick Price once pitied that Donald\u2019s elegant swing didn\u2019t have the power for the modern game. <\/p>\n Donald\u2019s trait of using critique as motivation has always mirrored that of his friend and NBA icon Jordan<\/p>\n LUKE DONALD\/INSTAGRAM<\/p>\n Instead of chasing distance, Donald resolved to prove Price wrong by making his short game and putting so formidable \u2014 he went 483 holes without a three-putt \u2014 that a lack of distance off the tee was moot, and he finished top of the money list on the PGA and European tours in 2011. He credits that drive to Dave Alred, another famous performance coach. <\/p>\n \u201cHe stoked the fires a bit. You have a bit of an f-you mentality. It definitely gave me a bit more of a chip on my shoulder, and we tried to do that at the Ryder Cup,\u201d he says. After the USA captain, Keegan Bradley, was filmed saying, \u201cWe are going to Bethpage to kick their f***ing ass,\u201d Donald had the quote printed on the wall in the team room. He also used the new $200,000 stipend the American players received after the furore over Patrick Cantlay\u2019s hat \u2014 he refused to wear one apparently in opposition to the team not being paid \u2014 in Rome as a provocation.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything I\u2019ve read on leadership, money is a motivator, but once you\u2019ve got enough and you\u2019re comfortable, it\u2019s not the best motivator. It\u2019s more intrinsic stuff,\u201d Donald says. \u201cPlaying for a greater purpose makes a team play harder for each other than if you\u2019re playing for a cheque that didn\u2019t mean a ton. So if one team\u2019s doing it and one\u2019s not, I\u2019m going to push on that a little bit. I could\u2019ve not brought it up in my speech [at the opening ceremony], but it wasn\u2019t really aimed so much at them. It was reiterating what our team represented.\u201d<\/p>\n Another crucial aspect of Donald\u2019s captaincy was his reliance on Molinari\u2019s data. After Europe dominated the opening foursomes session, Bradley was criticised for putting Collin Morikawa and Harris English, who were ranked by Data Golf as the worst out of 132 possible options, out again on Saturday. Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley were rated as the third-least-compatible pairing if the latter teed off on odd holes, which he did on Friday.<\/p>\n Donald admits he \u201cwrestles with the upside\u201d of the idea of another stint as European captain<\/p>\n DAVID DAVIES\/PA WIRE<\/p>\n \u201cData can be seen in different ways, so you have to be a bit careful. We have a lot of trust in what Edoardo does, so when we come up with the pairings, most of the time the players buy into it. They\u2019re not trying to lobby to play with this or that guy. They trust we\u2019ve done the work,\u201d Donald says. <\/p>\n \u201cEveryone was a little surprised with Morikawa and English going for a second time. If it didn\u2019t work out and it was a weak pairing on paper, maybe you don\u2019t run it back. That one and Henley going off first were the two things that we all kind of looked at each other.<\/p>\n \u201cBut we changed the [Bob] MacIntyre and [Viktor] Hovland one. On Friday, Bob went off the odds. Statistically it was a little better but, after the first round, Bob didn\u2019t feel comfortable on some holes that went left-to-right, he likes to hit a cut, so they ended up changing and it worked out.\u201d<\/p>\n One of Donald\u2019s few regrets was putting out McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and Jon Rahm for all five sessions. He was \u201csmiling on the inside\u201d that the trio performed so brilliantly in the face of such a volatile crowd after all their preparation, but the elation turned to exhaustion in the team room that evening.<\/p>\n \u201cAs genius as I looked as a captain, maybe I didn\u2019t look so good on Sunday,\u201d Donald says of the USA\u2019s astonishing fightback when they rallied from 11\u00bd-4\u00bd down, only to fall agonisingly short after Henley left his birdie putt short on the 18th green and Shane Lowry, in the eighth match, snatched the vital half-point to retain the trophy.<\/p>\n Donald says that Bradley, his counterpart at this year\u2019s Ryder Cup, \u201cis taking it a little hard. We haven\u2019t had a heart-to-heart chat yet\u201d<\/p>\n MIKE EGERTON\/PA WIRE<\/p>\n As for McIlroy, whose wife, Erica, was left in tears behind the 18th green on the Saturday after beer was splashed over her, Donald puts the Northern Irishman\u2019s chest-beating heroics of that febrile afternoon up there with his final round at the 2025 Masters. \u201cI don\u2019t think it was far off, just how much it took out of him,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Donald missed Lowry\u2019s winning putt because he had fallen back to support Rasmus Hojgaard, the sole rookie. \u201cIt came up on the big screen and I was just standing there in silence with Justin [Rose] watching. With all the emotions \u2014 is it going to happen or is it going to be a complete disaster? \u2014 I didn\u2019t really know how to feel. I just looked at Rosey and we had a big hug. It was just this void, like a weight off my shoulders,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n No sooner had Europe lifted the Ryder Cup than the chants began for Donald to retain the captaincy. Rose seemed the likeliest successor but he wants to focus on his playing career. Donald has delayed a decision, but becoming the only European to captain three winning teams is clearly tempting him.<\/p>\n \u201cI talked to a few of the players and everyone I\u2019ve spoken to would like me to do it again. That means a lot. I\u2019ve obviously thought about it, but I don\u2019t feel like I\u2019m in a big rush. My wife was a bit sceptical of me doing it in New York, but I really wanted to,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n And what does Diane think about it this time? \u201cShe probably enjoyed the home one more too, and she loves Adare [Manor], she loves Ireland, so she would be all for it.\u201d <\/p>\n Donald does not mention any drawbacks until coaxed. \u201cI wrestle with what the upside is. I feel like I\u2019ve proved enough. It is a lot of work. My eldest daughter has 2\u00bd more years of school, so I\u2019d be away a little bit more than I\u2019d like before she goes to college. I\u2019d like to understand if I\u2019m able to pick the best players [a reference to the eligibility of LIV players like Rahm and Hatton]. Do I push my luck? I\u2019m trying to enjoy this one. I\u2019ll seriously think about it in the new year.\u201d<\/p>\n Tiger Woods is the frontrunner to captain the USA in 2027 but Bradley recently said he would love the opportunity to redeem the defeat. He and Donald used to be \u201cvery close\u201d and often used to play practice rounds and dine together on the road. They have not spoken at any great length since the Ryder Cup, though.<\/p>\n Coincidentally, just as I\u2019m leaving The Bear\u2019s Club, Bradley pulls up next to me at the traffic lights. \u201cHe\u2019s quite a passionate guy with his words and how he feels. He seems to be taking it a little bit hard,\u201d Donald says. \u201cI\u2019ve seen him a few times, brief chats, but we haven\u2019t really had a heart-to-heart. Maybe one day we will.\u201d<\/p>\n It is now a decade since Donald considered retiring from golf, four years after reaching the game\u2019s summit. His form deserted him first, then the joy that had been the bedrock of his dedication. <\/p>\n \u201cI can trace it back to 2014 and not getting picked for the Ryder Cup. I was a little bit depressed after that. When I was given the honour of going out first in the singles at Medinah [in 2012], no chance I thought that would be the last time I played in a Ryder Cup. You feel invincible,\u201d says Donald, whose playing record is among the most formidable in the tournament\u2019s history, with ten wins, four losses, and one half.<\/p>\n Donald says his wife, Diane, loves Ireland and so \u201cwould be all for it\u201d were he to become captain there in 2027<\/p>\n CARL RECINE\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n Donald was approached to work as a commentator for LIV Golf shortly after he had tumbled out of the world\u2019s top 500 \u2014 an offer he flatly refused. \u201cThe Ryder Cup has obviously given me a lot back in the last few years,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Whether it is the beginning of a third and final act or the end of his captaincy, Donald takes great pride in the fact he has not changed. In his winner\u2019s press conference in Rome, he became emotional talking about how proud his late parents would be, not necessarily of the fact that Europe had won but how he went about the captaincy, using the same anchors that were paramount from virtually the moment he first picked up a club.<\/p>\n \u201cNo matter what, I\u2019ve stayed true to those values: being authentic, caring, having integrity,\u201d he says. \u201cMy job has been to bring a bunch of individuals into a team mindset while reminding them of all the ways that they can win and give them confidence. I think I\u2019ve done a decent job of that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Luke Donald is mulling over what makes a great leader when he remembers a conversation with his late…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":375459,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-375458","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-golf","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=375458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/375459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Etiquette](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/\/30da58ce-1cde-4245-a421-055a2b592be5.jpg\")
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