17 January 2024 , 12:30
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Tommy Fleetwood believes reappointing Luke Donald as European Ryder Cup captain was 'the right thing to do', with a new-look Team Europe aiming for back-to-back wins at Bethpage Black next year.
Donald led his continent to a thumping victory over their American rivals, as they prevailed 16.5-11.5 at Marco Simone last October. One man who was instrumental in the win was Fleetwood, after winning three out of four points across the three days.
With two previous Ryder Cup appearances to his name, the 32-year-old took on the role as one of Europe's more experienced heads, with the team without stalwarts such as Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood.
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All three had cemented themselves as European greats, but are currently unable to represent their continent on the Ryder Cup stage in any capacity after their switch to LIV Golf. On the back of their move, Poulter and co were forced to hand in their DP World Tour memberships due to sanctions, thus giving up their Ryder Cup playing rights.
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This saw the European team go through somewhat of a changing of the guard in Rome, with a third of the 12-man squad made up of Ryder Cup rookies. It remained unknown as to how Team Europe's new-look setup would fair, especially against their U.S. rivals who recorded a dominant victory at Whistling Straits two years earlier.
The fresh-faced Euros soon got their revenge though, which proved enough for Donald to become the first Ryder Cup captain since 1995 to be appointed for a second-straight term. Amid the turbulence surrounding pro golf, Fleetwood believes the recall is exactly what the Team Europe camp needs.
Tommy Fleetwood played a part in Europe's Ryder Cup winHe told Mirror Sport at this week's Dubai Desert Classic: "I think [reappointing Donald] is good timing with everything that is happening in the world of golf. You look at this Ryder Cup and the landscape of the European side changing, a lot of moving parts and I think Luke carrying on has given stability to what is Team Europe and he did a fantastic job...
"I think having Luke stay on again after everything that has happened is the right thing to do.” Fleetwood enjoyed a succesful start to his season last week, after he saw off European teammate Rory McIlroy to claim the Dubai Invitational title by a single shot.
The DP World Tour star did not have much time to enjoy his victory though, after getting straight back to work for this week's Rolex Series event: "Sunday was great. That winning feeling is always lovely, but then there's another tournament," he added with a laugh. "You've won on Sunday but everybody in the world of golf is back practising on Monday getting ready for the next week."
Despite the quick turnaround, Fleetwood is still hoping to be in around the right end of the leaderboard once more this Sunday. "I am looking forward to this week, it is a course I have always enjoyed playing," he commented. "Somewhere I think I've not done as well as I think I could do but hopefully the consistency in my game can keep and I can throw myself in the mix again and see what happens."