The One Thing You Need to Watch Before The Ryder Cup

If you watch only one piece of content before the Ryder Cup, we recommend that you make it The Captains Dinner, which has been shown on Sky Sports Golf after being commissioned by DP World.

The show, hosted by Sky Sports Golf lead presenter, Nick Dougherty, sees three legends of European golf and former Ryder Cup winning captains; Colin Montgomerie, Paul McGinley and Thomas Bjorn sit down for an intimate dinner to share some of their stories of their success and failure in golf’s greatest match play event.

Throughout the show, there are incredible stories and insights from each captain, who relive the role and the impact it had on them. Topics ranged from making that dreaded ‘you haven’t made the team’ phone call, creating a winning mentality, adapting when things go wrong, creating a winning environment in the team room and selecting smart partnerships.

The menu was based on items from each of the venues where each captain won. The starter was Pembrokeshire Leek and Potato Veloute, a Welsh classic to celebrate Monty’s win at Celtic Manor. Main course was Scottish Smoked Salmon, a Scottish special to celebrate McGinley’s win in 2014 at Gleneagles, and desert was Crème Brûlée, Bjorn’s favourite and one of France’s iconic dishes, to celebrate his win in Paris in 2018.

To finish the show, the captains selected their all-time best European Ryder Cup Team. Eight players were shoe ins but there was a heated debate for the remaining four places which may surprise some viewers.

The Captains Dinner will be shown several times throughout Ryder Cup week on Sky Sports Golf in the below slots, including after the opening ceremony on Thursday and after play finishes on Friday and Saturday:

• Wednesday 27th: 10.30pm-11.30pm
• Thursday 28th: 6-7pm  
• Friday 29th: 8.30-9.30pm
• Saturday 30th: 8.30-9.30pm

You can also watch the show on YouTube or directly at the bottom of this page.

Produced by Avidity Studios, its founder Gary Smith, said “It was a privilege to experience the captains sharing their insights and stories of being a Ryder Cup captain in such an intimate, raw and emotive way through the natural conversation that developed. We shot three hours of footage which was all just fascinating content and we are thrilled the show will be a part of another exciting Ryder Cup week. DP World have been a great partner to work with throughout the project and we hope the audience love the show as much as we do.”

Jason Wessely, Head of Golf at Sky Sports, said: “We’re really proud of this show; Thomas, Colin, Paul were all amazing. It’s great to hear how special the role was to them and to hear all of their stories. It’s a concept that we’ll look to replicate across other sports, bringing the audience remarkable insights from some of the finest athletes Europe has ever produced.”

The 2023 Ryder Cup gets underway on Friday 29 September to Sunday 1 October at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome, Italy.