Luke Donald will have Ryder Cup edge after key to winning away outlined
Three-time European Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher has outlined the key components to winning the event away from home, after it was announced that Luke Donald will return for a second stint as skipper in 2025.
Donald led the Europeans to an emphatic 16.5-11.5 victory over Team USA at Marco Simone in September and his efforts were rewarded, after being handed the honour to return as captain at Bethpage Black. The Englishman becomes the first back-to-back skipper since Gallacher, who led his continent in three straight events between 1991 and 1995.
Donald's new-look European team will no doubt have their tails up ahead of their title defence in just under two years, but 2025 will prove a much tougher test, with the former world No. 1 tasked with repeating the feat on American soil, in what promises to be a raucous New York setting.
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The Ryder Cup has been won by the away team just once in the past eight events, but one man who knows exactly how it is done is Gallacher, after he led Europe to victory at Oak Hill 28 years ago. With Donald now tasked with the same job, the Scot has revealed the strong away support that the Europeans boast Stateside can help spur his team on to a second-straight win.
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Quizzed on what it takes to win the Ryder Cup on foreign soil, Golf Care Ambassador Gallacher told Mirror Sport: "Luke will have strong support for Europe in New York. One of the big differences at Whistling Straits [2021 Ryder Cup] of course was for Padraig Harrington, who suffered from a team not having support at all, because of the COVID restrictions.
"I have always felt the defeat would have been a lot less if Europe would have had any support at all. Support means a lot at the Ryder Cup, you could see that at Marco Simone that was crucial... Luke will have decent support there, and the players will appreciate that and so will Luke." Gallacher highlighted Europe's away triumphs in 1987 and 2004, where the continent's roaring support more than played its part.
Bernard Gallacher knows what it takes to win a Ryder Cup in the USA"It [support] was a big help to Tony Jacklin at Muirfield village, and it also helped Bernard Langer. There was a strong European presence." A key to Donald's success in Rome this year was his team's pairings, which helped the home team get off to the perfect start in the opening day matches, as the Americans failed to win a day one point.
Gallacher believes picking the right pairs once more will also help Donald's quest to deliver back-to-back victories. "The Europeans are usually strong in the partnerships, the foursomes and fourballs," he added. "You do feel if they get good results in that then hang on in the singles they will win.
"There is such a strong camaraderie, a natural camaraderie, so they do well in the partnerships and that's where all the points are. Yes there are 12 points in the singles, but you could see the Americans getting off to such a poor start [in Rome] they couldn’t recover from that.”
One man who was at the centre of Europe's brilliance in Italy was Rory McIlroy, after the Northern Irishman led from the front to win four points from a possible five - more than any other player. In every European team there has been a great talisman, from Seve Ballesteros to Nick Faldo, and Gallacher believes McIlroy has taken on this role in Europe's modern day setup.
Rory McIlroy was the star of the show for Team Europe (Getty)"Luke has got the basis of a strong team already. He has Rory Mcilroy on his side which is a great inspiration. Tony Jacklin had Seve Ballesteros, I had Nick Faldo and Colin Montgomerie. You gain your inspiration from the strength of on course leaders like Rory McIlroy. This is a great basis for a strong side." It proved to be quite the turnaround for McIlroy, who just two years earlier was left in tears after Europe were dismantled by Team USA in Wisconsin.
His emotion then spilled over whilst competing on day two at Marco Simone, after he was involved in a heated clash with caddies Joe LaCava and Jim 'Bones' Mackay on the back of a defeat to Patrick Cantlay and Wyndham Clark, alongside Matt Fitzpatrick, in the Saturday fourballs.
Fortunately for Donald and Team Europe, McIlroy used the fallout as fuel for good heading into Sunday's singles and completed his near-perfect week with a win over Sam Burns. For Gallacher, the talent and passion of the Northern Irishman makes him the perfect player for any captain, once again earning a comparison to the great Ballesteros. "He [McIlroy] was so up for it," the former skipper commented.
"When you have got a great player like Rory, he makes your captain's job easy. Seve made it easy for Tony Jacklin, people like Nick Faldo and Colin Montgomerie made it easy for me. Rory and Jon Rahm are making it easy for the captain, and that is the basis for a captain's success. A captain can't do it without having strong players, and Luke has strong players."
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