{"id":187156,"date":"2025-10-03T09:55:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T09:55:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/187156\/"},"modified":"2025-10-03T09:55:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T09:55:15","slug":"inside-luke-donalds-four-word-masterplan-to-win-the-ryder-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/187156\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Luke Donald\u2019s four-word masterplan to win the Ryder Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

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On the walls of Europe\u2019s carefully designed players\u2019 quarters at Bethpage Black were inspirational photographs of winning teams from yesteryear and motivational quotes from legends of the game. Perhaps the most energising of all came from a surprising source, the US captain Keegan Bradley<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to go to Bethpage and kick their f****** ass,\u201d he had said in the build-up. Those words were written in giant red and white print on a wall in the European living space, with Bradley\u2019s name underneath in attribution. After winning the Cup 15-13 on Sunday<\/a>, Shane Lowry<\/a> made sure to take a smiling photo with the quote while holding the trophy. <\/p>\n

This was one of hundreds of tiny pieces of detail that went into Europe\u2019s remarkable Ryder Cup<\/a> triumph. When Luke Donald<\/a> was awarded the captaincy ahead of the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome, one of the first steps he took was to educate himself on the role, and he read numerous books on leadership in sport and in life. <\/p>\n

He learnt the importance of clear communication, which is why he prioritised close contact with his players outside the Ryder Cup season and delivered early clarity on his preferred pairings. His most important takeaway was that an effective leader provides a simple, unequivocal goal for their team to pursue. <\/p>\n

\"Luke<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Luke Donald is showered in champagne after leading Europe to glory (Getty)<\/p>\n

In Rome, the aim was simple: to win back the Ryder Cup<\/a>. But Donald felt he needed a fresh message in New York. He used Rory McIlroy<\/a>\u2019s statement two years ago about an away Ryder Cup being the hardest feat in sport and shaped a goal around creating history. Their new mission was to become only the fifth European team to win in America. <\/p>\n

Donald came up with a tagline \u2013 \u201cOur time. Our place.\u201d \u2013 designed to hammer home the message. That phrase was covered over all of the team\u2019s social media content, and it was the last thing the European players saw as they walked out of their locker room to the first tee, those four words emblazoned by the door. <\/p>\n

He commissioned a moving video<\/a> featuring many of the 37 European men who have won an away Ryder Cup, including Justin Rose, McIlroy and Donald himself, who were part of the 2012 Miracle at Medinah. It reinforced the sense that they were playing for their place in a greater story, a message Donald repeated in his speech at the opening ceremony. <\/p>\n

Donald continued playing golf but he dedicated himself to the captaincy in a way that Bradley did not. His relationship with data guru Edoardo Molinari was crucial and every European pairing had to be approved by Molinari\u2019s models, analysing optimal duos for foursomes and fourballs, as well as containing some personal chemistry. <\/p>\n

\"Europe\u2019s<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Europe\u2019s chemistry stood out compared to their American counterparts (Getty)<\/p>\n

Donald felt retaining 11 of the same players from Rome under virtually the same leadership was crucial. The data revealed that rookies don\u2019t perform well when they make their Ryder Cup debut away from home, so Europe tweaked their selection criteria to better suit experienced players and to aid LIV players Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton in accruing qualifying points. <\/p>\n

A major focus was recovery, with McIlroy, Rahm and Tommy Fleetwood expected to play five rounds across three days in baking heat. Europe brought their own bedding so the players would get a comfortable night\u2019s sleep. They discovered cracks in the hotel room doors that let in light and blocked them. They even brought their own sweet-smelling shampoos. <\/p>\n

Paul McGinley, Donald\u2019s strategic adviser, bragged that Team Europe had spent more money than ever before, and it showed in the bespoke locker room built at Bethpage Black for the three-day competition. The players had an expansive gym to warm up and cool down, with baths and a sauna. They also had bedrooms on site to get some rest, which matched the same bedding as their hotel. <\/p>\n

\"Donald<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Donald and his team left no stone unturned as Europe prepared for Bethpage Black (Getty)<\/p>\n

They deployed virtual reality headsets <\/a>to mimic the hostile American crowds \u2013 the strategy of smiling and getting on with the golf worked, for the most part. Donald asked speakers, including former England rugby captain Owen Farrell, to share their experiences. Andy Murray and Roger Federer also delivered motivating video messages in the team room. <\/p>\n

None of which necessarily helped hit drives down the fairways of Bethpage or sent putts rolling into cups. The Europeans still had to go out and play great golf. But Donald wanted to leave no stone unturned and make them feel utterly prepared, so that when they stood over the ball their mind was clear. <\/p>\n

It came back to that one overarching message, the mission to make history. In the European changing room, those words \u2013 \u201cOur time. Our place.\u201d \u2013 were written above each seat in their native language. The dates of the four previous wins were written on the walls: 1987, 1995, 2004 and 2012. And hanging there all week were the four shirts of Europe\u2019s previous winning away teams. <\/p>\n

Donald asked his players to add one more shirt to the rail, and they delivered. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":187157,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-187156","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-golf","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187156\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}