The secret man behind Europe's Ryder Cup victory

At Bethpage Black, Rory McIlroy and his teammates endured constant boos and jeers from the fans. However, the 36-year-old golfer, like everyone else, did not let that affect his play. They won the final 15-13, becoming the first team to win the Ryder Cup on away soil since 2012.

The reason is that the European team has been well prepared. Several months before the tournament began, European captain Luke Donald provided each player with a virtual reality headset that not only simulated the golf course but also included sounds, including the frenzy of the crowd they would all face at Bethpage Black.

At first, Donald's appointment as captain in 2023 was a reluctant decision, when Henrik Stenson moved to LIV Golf. But two consecutive championships, in Italy (2023) and the US (2025) have shown that Donald is more worthy than anyone. In everything, the 47-year-old British golfer always plans meticulously down to the last detail. The virtual reality glasses are a living example.

European captain Luke Donald lifts the 2025 Ryder Cup.

Donald has also been right to put his faith in experienced players. He appointed Jose Maria Olazabal, who led the European team to the "Miracle of Medinah" in 2012, as vice-captain, and has also met with former captains such as Bernard Gallacher, Tony Jacklin, Bernhard Langer, Ian Woosnam and Nick Faldo for advice.

Experience is also a factor in team selection, partly due to the data showing that rookies in particular struggle away from home at the Ryder Cup (as demonstrated at Bethpage Black, where rookie Rasmus Hojgaard was the only European player to fail to score a point).

The overhaul of the qualifying system, which merged two separate scorecards into a single system, largely created by vice-captain Edoardo Molinari, also allowed Donald to select six wildcards that he liked, including LIV Golf players John Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton.

The European team was crowned champions thanks to a detailed and meticulous plan.

Owning a statistical analysis company, Molinari pointed out to Donald that, in the last three seasons, European wildcards had won 54.5 percent of their team's points, compared to just 36 percent for American wildcards. And this season, European wildcards had earned 12 points compared to America's nine.

Donald’s team also analyzed from the field. Last month, the European captain, his vice-captains, caddies, and support staff traveled to Bethpage Black ahead of time and played 27 holes over two days, focusing on learning the greens and then planning accordingly, from pairing up to where to attack.

By comparison, on the US team, captain Keegan Bradley was criticized for pairing Harris English with Collin Morikawa, a pairing that analytics platform Data Golf calculated to be the worst of 132 possible pairings.

The European team hopes Donald will continue as captain in 2027.

Of course, Donald doesn’t just rely on hard statistics. He also considers team relationships and psychology. Donald has a deep understanding of each member because he cares about their daily habits, such as changing the bedsheets or choosing the right shampoo.

“Luke is the captain of this ship, and he has led us better than anyone else,” Rahm said of the captain after the success at the 2025 Ryder Cup. “He has set an extremely high standard for future captains.”

After the praise, Rahm tried to convince Donald to continue leading the European team in 2027 at Adare Manor (Republic of Ireland) by shouting “two more years!”. The other members immediately joined in, believing that the winning streak would continue if they continued in this way.