TThis feels like an early victory for Europe. Michael Jordan, a longtime cheerleader for the US in the Ryder Cups, believes Luke Donald’s team will triumph at Marco Simone next Sunday. Donald, a neighbor of Jordan, dined with the NBA icon in recent weeks. “He tipped the Europeans to win,” says Donald. ‘Take from that what you want.
“He is a good friend. He would be very supportive if I had a great experience. I think ultimately he wants the US to win.” Yet Jordan’s faith lies in Europe.
Donald is far too smart to take Jordan’s confidence as evidence of a simple task. The 19-9 gallop for the US in Wisconsin two years ago was an embarrassment to European golf. It allowed for theories of a decade or more of dominance for a team now led by Zach Johnson.
“I don’t think about losing,” Donald emphasizes. “You prepare as best you can, you go out there and take care of what you can do and hopefully winning will take care of itself. I’m very interested in controlling what you can control and the processes and all that stuff, and the result will take care of itself.
“I have been in this role for 14 months now, but this has been a two-year process. I had conversations with Paul McGinley on Sunday evening in Whistling Straits about what needed to change. We are very prepared and we are very ready.”
It’s easy to forget that Donald was initially overlooked for this post. Henrik Stenson was the intended captain for Europe in 2023 before the Swede’s LIV alliance necessitated Plan B. Donald had stuck to his advice when Stenson was appointed, instead of shouting foul. “It’s not my style to go down that path,” he says. “I was disappointed. That’s water under the bridge. I got the second chance and I plan to make the best of it.
“I got the call and there’s a mixture of excitement, there’s a mixture of, ‘Wow, can I do this?’ Am I ready? ”
Donald was helped by a Ryder Cup template that has served Europe well. His attention to business – the former world number 1 is a serial note-taker – has been compared to the captain profile of Bernhard Langer. Donald made his debut under the German when Europe defeated the US at Oakland Hills in 2004.
“I often wake up at night with a lot of thoughts,” says Donald. “Do I remember this? Am I doing this right? There is a lot to consider here.
“Bernhard has done a fantastic job. We all felt very comfortable, especially as individuals playing for him. I knew where I stood, I knew what I had to do. I knew my role. Returning to my captaincy: the clarity that consistency is very important. Have good communication, be open to feedback and know that you don’t know everything. Learning from other people. Those are the kind of captain characteristics I try to embody.”
Donald also exudes confidence. “We have some superstars. We have a great core of great players and we also have some young guys. The future is bright. With these guys, anything is possible. But if we say that, we will have suffered the worst loss we have ever had, and the Americans will be betting favorites.
“We have a tough task ahead of us. We will never underestimate the Americans. They’re very strong and they have some great partnerships, winning partnerships. They have partnerships with an 85%, 90% win rate, which was unheard of.
“You can go on and on about how strong they are and it shows in their world rankings. But I still have a lot of confidence in our team. That Monday after Whistling Straits; Then we got together and started trying to come up with a plan on how to avenge what happened.”
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Padraig Harrington, Donald’s immediate predecessor, labeled him a “hard nut”. The term brings a smile to Donald, who has been understated throughout his career. “You have to have a bit of ruthlessness,” he says.
“I am a very detail-oriented person. I like writing things down. I like to think about things. I’m not someone who just does anything just like that. There must be a plan. There must be steps. How do we get there?”
If this all sounds exhausting, it absolutely is. “It was stressful,” Donald admits. “But I think any kind of major leadership role will be like that. You have a lot of responsibility. This is a big problem. So that should be the case and that’s fine.”
Oakland Hills stands out as a win for an away Ryder Cup team. The US has not had the upper hand in Europe since 1993. This feels much more than a coincidence. “We did really well against teams that I think would have been much bigger underdogs than the team we’re going to Rome with,” Donald said. “It is clear that the unity we can create is important.”
Whatever happens on Friday, Donald will have left nothing to chance.