Ryder Cup: Justin Rose backs Luke Donald to captain Team Europe again for 2025 contest at Bethpage
Team Europe regained the Ryder Cup with an impressive 16.5-11.5 victory over Team USA in Rome; Justin Rose among the players who would back captain Luke Donald to retain the captaincy for the 2025 contest in New York
Wednesday 1 November 2023 15:40, UK
Former world No 1 Justin Rose has backed Luke Donald to return as Ryder Cup captain for the 2025 contest after leading Team Europe to an impressive victory in Rome last month.
Rose was one of Donald's captain's picks for this year's contest at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, where Team Europe prevailed 16.5-11.5 to regain the trophy and claim a seventh consecutive home win.
European players chanted "two more years" at Donald during his victory speech, while Rory McIlroy said in the post-event press conference he would be "very happy" to see the Englishman back in the role for the next edition at Bethpage.
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No announcement has yet been made on who will be Europe's next captain, although Rose would be a "big advocate" of Donald becoming the first since Bernard Gallacher in the mid-90s to take on the role for back-to-back Ryder Cups.
"I don't make the decisions, but if Luke [Donald] wants it then he should get it," Rose told Sky Sports ahead of the Justin Rose Telegraph Junior Golf Championship.
"There's so much learning that goes into being a Ryder Cup captain and after all the things that he has learned over the last two years, it would be a shame not to put into play once again next time around.
"I think the job would seem a lot easier for him second time around. I think as a home team captain there's a lot of responsibility and you have to do a lot of extra organising, as you've got to think about course set-up, the events and the hosting side of things.
"Being an away captain, you can focus on the team but a lot of the other stuff is for the other side to do, so I think coming in second time around it might feel like a bit of a straightforward mission for Luke. I would definitely be a big advocate for that."
'Donald executed his plan brilliantly'
Europe had a significantly different line-up in Rome to their record-breaking defeat at Whistling Straits two years earlier, with several of that team unable to feature after joining LIV Golf, while Donald himself was a late addition to the captaincy after replacing Henrik Stenson after the Swede joined the Saudi-backed circuit.
Donald's much-changed side - containing four rookies and seven making their first home Ryder Cup appearance - were full of praise for how he handled the role, with Rose impressed with how his compatriot guided Europe to a home success.
"Luke was himself, which I think is the most important thing," Rose explained. "Luke has always been unassuming in stature but obviously very intelligent, very smart and a hell of a competitor underneath that exterior of him coming across as quite laidback.
"He brought all of those attributes into the team room but he never got too intense, which I think put a lot of the players at ease. He was so organised and everything was just in place, so there was never any panic or fluster.
"His messaging was consistent and on point all the time, so that just gave the team a very clear plan. He had a plan and he executed his plan brilliantly, so the players could get behind it, get on board on it and there was no reactiveness going on.
Exciting future for Team Europe?
Ryder Cup stalwarts Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter were among those missing in Rome as part of a changing of the guard within the European set-up, while Rose believes Donald has helped create an exciting future ahead of their bid for a historic away victory in 2025.
"Team USA looked incredibly strong [at Whistling Straits] and at that point in time, I was thinking that Europe were going to be in for quite a tough run for the next decade or so," Rose admitted. "This time around was really a new-look European team but what I loved about it was how the top-end of it was the best players in the world.
"We had Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Viktor Hovland, so three of the top four players in the world and all in good form. I really felt like the firepower at the top-end of our team was unbelievable and then I felt like we had a great engine room.
"Guys like Tommy Fleetwood, Matt Fitzpatrick and Tyrrell Hatton, who are world-class players and were all playing really well. Then you add the likes of myself in for a bit of experience and you blend in some of the new young talent that was coming through, the likes of Ludvig [Åberg], Nicolai Hojgaard and obviously Bob MacIntyre.
"The European team has a bit of a face for the future now and I felt like it was really nice in the way we all just jelled together. Luke obviously deserves a lot of credit really for how he got our team building and bonding going.
"Rory [McIlroy] has mentioned how winning an away Ryder Cup is a huge goal and a great achievement in the sport, so that's definitely going to be what gets all our attention."
Highlights of the Justin Rose Telegraph Junior Golf Championship will be shown on Sky Sports later this month. Stream the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LPGA Tour and more with NOW.
