The European Ryder Cup team is mostly running it back in 2025, and that goes for the vice captains, too.
Four of Luke Donald’s five vice captains at Bethpage Black were by his side during the victorious week at Marco Simone in Rome two years ago. Among them include two former European captains, a pair of brothers who have been instrumental in the team’s recent success and a late addition who arguably could’ve been on the team.
It’s experience the Euros will need, looking for their first win on foreign soil in 13 years.
Meet the European vice captains assisting Luke Donald in the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.
Europe vice captains in the 2025 Ryder Cup
Thomas Bjorn
The 2025 Ryder Cup will mark Bjorn’s sixth time as a vice captain in the biennial contest and 10th time overall he has been a part of Team Europe, including in 2018 when he was the captain for the European victory in Paris.
“It was a natural progression from last time,” Bjorn said. “Luke called me and said he wanted me to carry on into New York, understanding that it’s going to be a completely different Ryder Cup in 2025 at Bethpage. We had some conversations back and forth mostly about how to go from the victory in Rome and into a new set up for New York, debriefing on what happened in Rome and how we carry it forward.”
Jose Maria Olazabal
Team Europe is seeking to win on U.S. soil for the first time since 2012, which happens to be when the 59-year-old Spaniard captained Team Europe to victory, overseeing the most famous European comeback victory of all time at Medinah in 2012.
This year’s Ryder Cup will be the fifth time Olazabal has been a vice captain after previously performing the role in 2008, 2010 and 2014, as well as in Rome two years ago.
Edoardo Molinari
The 43-year-old, a popular figure within the game, proved crucial to Team Europe’s success in Rome, with Captain Donald placing a key emphasis on Molinari’s statistical analysis model in the months leading up to, and during, the biennial contest. He was Donald’s first selection for vice captain early last year.
Francesco Molinari
Molinari returns as vice captain after the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome, when Team Europe defeated the United States 16 ½ – 11 ½ at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club. Molinari played in the last European team to achieve that feat, securing the half point in the final singles match against Tiger Woods at Medinah in 2012 which ensured that Olazabal’s team won the Ryder Cup outright 14 ½-13 ½.
He previously made his debut alongside his brother Edoardo two years earlier at The Celtic Manor Resort.
Alex Noren
A late selection last month, Noren was a key part of Team Europe’s 2018 victory at Le Golf National in Paris, France, securing two points from three matches — including a memorable 40-foot putt on the 18th green to defeat Bryson DeChambeau 1 up in the final Sunday singles match, as Europe triumphed 17 ½ – 10 ½ over the United States. It’s his first time as vice captain.
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