The last 12 months had a bit of everything – a career Grand Slam, Ryder Cup chaos and much more. With 2026 on the horizon, our writers look at the most memorable moments from 2025 and explain why they mattered.
no. 15 – Impeller motion with zero torque | no. 14 – ‘Happy Gilmore 2’ takes the golf world by storm | no. 13 – Joaquin Niemann’s big 2025 (and crucial 2026) | no. 12 – JJ Spaun kills Oakmont | no. 11 – Online invitation | no. 10 – Joan a Are nites who has been a sinner and 3. | no. 9 – Tiger Woods’ next role | no. 8 – Tommy Fleetwood breaks through | No. 7 – The birth of TGL | no. 6 – Keegan Bradley’s big decision
Greatest Golf Moments of 2025 No. 5: Europe wins another Ryder Cup
winner Ryder Cup The Sunday evening team press conference is always a lively event – especially when the Europeans dominate, as they have now done in 11 of the last 15 editions, including the 2025 matches in Black Bethpagewhere they were led for the second time by captain Luke Donald.
At the beginning of the question-and-answer session in Bethpage, a reporter asked no one in particular: “In America, we’re under a constant search for what makes a good captain. We’re still trying to figure it out. What do you think makes Luke such a good leader of people?”
Jon Rahm gave a vague answer about Donald’s professionalism and attention to detail before the reporter asked if anyone else wanted to weigh in.
Donald spoke first: “Just have 12 good guys.”
To which Rory McIlroy said: “No, it’s more than that. His communication skills -“
Which prompted Shane Lowry to interrupt: “—Let’s not leave it; what about this?”
“I’ll shut up,” McIlroy said with a smile
The point is, though, that the Europeans’ winning formula – for both captain and team – is no secret, at least not anymore. They have cohesion. They have continuity. And they have arrangements that bring the guys together in a way that the Americans haven’t been able to replicate.
“The badge and the boys,” is how Justin Rose summed up his team’s brotherhood after Europe’s 15-13 victory. “That’s all that matters, honestly.”
This time, the cohesion and continuity part required some fat, because Donald had assembled almost the same squad he captained to victory in Rome in 2023. Of his 12 players at Bethpage, Donald had only one new face: Rasmus Højgaard, who replaced his twin brother Nicolai.
That doesn’t mean Captain Donald just hit the rinse and repeat button; instead, he used new tactics, big and small.
He consulted statistics and sleep experts, as well as former Premier League boss Richard Scudamore and Rugby Football Union chief executive Ian Ritchie; he changed the sheets and shampoo in his team’s hotel rooms so they could rest (and smell!) better; he asked his players to prepare for New York crowds talking loudly in virtual reality headsets; he flew his boys to New York nearly two weeks before the matches so they could acclimate to the course and its surroundings while also calling in his pairings. “The most prepared team I’ve ever come across,” said former European captain Paul McGinley.
Donald explained his preparation this way: “It’s just taking your time and being careful that you want to do everything you can to give these guys the best opportunity. You want to create an environment where they can succeed. These are 12 great players, we know that. You’re just trying to put them in a position where they’re comfortable.”
Earlier this month, a handful of former European Ryder Cuppers – Colin Montgomerie, Miguel Angel Jiminez, Bernhard LangerDarren Clarke, among others – gathered at a golf club west of Tampa, Fla., for the second round of Skechers World Champions Cupa three-team event featuring the best senior players from the US, Europe and the rest of the world. The tournament had the atmosphere of fantasy camps: the greats of yesteryear came back together to relive past glories and also make some new memories.
The Europeans looked a little grayer and softer in the middle than they did two or three decades ago, but the joy they derived from being around each other had not dimmed at all. This is the respect they so clearly have for each other. All these years they still looked and felt like one Team.
When I asked Clarke, the team captain, about that positive energy, he said: “It’s not too hard to have a really good European team bond. That’s what comes to us. Whenever we went to play Ryder Cups, one of our mantras on the European side was to park your ego outside on Monday morning and pick it up on the Monday after the Ryder Cup. The best we can do this week.”
If that message sounds familiar, it might be because Donald said something very similar that Sunday night in Bethpage: “If I go to (my players) and say, ‘What do you think about this?’ They say, ‘I have faith in you, Luke. Let’s go with it.’ Again, that’s a nice thing to have. It’s nice not to have those big egos in the team room.”
The same will be true in two years’ time when the Europeans attempt to defend their title at Adare Manor. There’s a good chance that Donald will return for another captaincy, and a better chance that the core of his team will also remain unchanged.
Why mess with a good thing?
;)
