Luke Donald has been named 2027 European Ryder Cup captain

Luke Donald has been confirmed as Europe’s Ryder Cup captain for a third time - the first man to do so since Bernard Gallacher in 1991, 1993 and 1995.

The Englishman led Europe to victory at Marco Simone in Italy and followed it with a historic second triumph at Bethpage Black last year. There was an immediate clamour for him to do the job again and Donald made it clear that he might be open to the possibility.

It has now been confirmed that he will lead the team at Adare Manor in Ireland in 2027. This is all the more remarkable when you consider that he wasn’t even the original choice for Italy. Donald only stepped in when Henrik Stenson was stripped of the captaincy after joining LIV.

And he takes the job with some headaches, most notably what to do about Spain’s Jon Rahm, who has refused to sign up to the DP World Tour’s waiver deal signed by eight LIV golfers. As things stand, Rahm is not a member of the DP World Tour and would be unable to play.

Remarkably, Donald is yet to lose a match as either a player or captain for Europe and has already joined Tony Jacklin as the only captain to win back-to-back contests for Europe. He now goes for a historic "threepeat". 

He said: "The last two Ryder Cups have meant a lot to me and my family. I didn't imagine this third time would come. Celebrating on that Sunday night in New York after a pressure-packed week in a tough environment, I thought maybe my job was done. But maybe there is a little more story to tell.

"This Ryder Cup captaincy journey has given me so much focus, so much purpose and it is something I don't take for granted. It's a real privilege and I am certainly looking forward to another home Ryder Cup."

He still doesn’t know who he will be facing. There has been widespread speculation that Tiger Woods is going to be named as America’s captain but there has still been no confirmation. There had been suggestions that Keegan Bradley might be asked to do the job again but this now seems to have been ruled out and the belief is that Woods is the only candidate being considered for the job. But he has refused to publicly commit himself.

The USA had wanted him to captain the team at Bethpage but he refused, blaming time constraints. He has also taken on boardroom roles at the PGA Tour that have kept him occupied. And that is without taking into account the rehab from his latest round of surgery.

Woods recently said: "I’m trying to figure out what we’re trying to do with our tour. That’s been driving me hours upon hours every day and trying to figure out if I can actually do our Team USA and our players and everyone that’s going to be involved in the Ryder Cup, justice with my time. Serving on two boards, and what I’m doing for the PGA Tour, I’m trying to figure out if I can actually do this and serve the people that are involved and serve them at an honourable level."

Donald was a hugely popular captain in both Rome and New York. He didn’t once put a foot wrong and was widely lauded for his approach and the way he dealt with the players.

He never allowed himself to become flustered and his incredible attention to detail and level of consistent messaging have been meticulous and he clearly raised an already high bar. Donald had asked for time to consider his options over the winter but has finally ended the speculation and will now aim to lead Europe to a third successive victory.