Team Europe Winning Press Conference | 2025 Ryder Cup

We're pleased to be joined now by the European Rider Cup team, led by Captain Luke Donald. We'll go ahead and jump right into questions. Starting with Sean, go ahead. Two years ago, Rory, you seemed to call this shot. Why were you so confident then, and how does it feel to have been right? It's nice to be right. I'm not right all the time. I have absolute confidence in this team, absolute confidence in our leader, Luke Donald, the vice captains, the backroom staff, the things that people don't see behind the scenes. I think we won in Rome, and the wheels were set in motion to try to do something that hadn't been done in over a decade. And as we talked today, 11 of the 12 on the team are the same. The captain's the same. We believed a lot in our continuity. I believe that we had a really special group in Rome, and I felt like we had a real part. I said that in the euphoria of winning a Rider Cup, but I really felt like we had definitely way more of a chance than we had in Whistling Streets in 2021. So I was bullish about our chances, but this has just been a dream week, and it obviously was really tight there at the end. It was a bit stressful. But the big lad sitting one right to Luke made an unbelievable last four holes, and he carried me through the afternoon yesterday as well. Absolute legend, along with everyone else sitting up here. And I'm just so happy that we could get it done. Up here to Ryan. Guys, congratulations, Rory, for you. The fans, I don't know. Go ahead, take your time. Chug, chug. You got any more? Over here. I don't need to tell you about the fans, obviously. But the question is, how do you pick and choose when to interact? Yesterday on 16 in the afternoon, I heard some guy who was like, Rory, you're not that good. And you said, I'm really effing good. So I am. I know you are. Really good. I know. But when do you pick and choose when to interact with the fans? Obviously, there's playful back and forth. Honestly, I'd say it's just on impulse. Sometimes I do. Sometimes I don't. I'm quite an impulsive character, if you haven't noticed. And sometimes I'll engage. And sometimes I'll catch myself and refrain. But I don't really choose when. And it's just sort of sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. Would you be OK with another Router Cup in this area? If the result was the same, absolutely. Up to 18. Luke in the back here. Keegan was in here a few minutes ago saying that he disagreed with the injury rule that impacted Victor and Harris and said that it should be changed by the next Router Cup. I wanted to get your thoughts, not on how it impacted today, but just on the rule in general. I think it's been in place since 1971. The US have used it before. I think it's happened in 1991 with Steve Pate. That was a tight Router Cup, too, 14.5, 13.5. It happened in 1993. Sam Torrance couldn't play with an injured toe. The US won that one. It's just we have contracts for a reason, a captain's agreement for a reason, for situations that occur. I want to center it back to Victor. I would have had absolute faith in him to deliver a point today. He couldn't play. He was gutted. He was close to tears to not be able to play. So the rule is the rule, and it's been in place for a long time. Over here with Luke. Congratulations, everyone. Justin, for the second straight Router Cup, you've led everyone in putting. And yesterday, you gained more strokes with your putter than the entirety in Rome. Like, how do you do this? What's it like when you get into this superhero role? So mature. I wish I knew. I wish I could be a bit more selfish and know that 25 weeks of the year. But do you know what I mean? I feel like the power of this, the power of the group, who knows what it is, that ability to lock in, the ability to just want it that little bit more. The answer to your question is I don't know, other than the badge and the boys, honestly. And yeah, that's all that matters. The badge and the boys. I wish I putted better today, if I'm honest. Today, I felt like I didn't putt as well. But you kind of live and die by the putter in match play, you know, for sure. And there's always momentum swings with a putter. You know, you make a long one, you steal something, you miss a short one, you gift something. There's a lot of pressure on the putter. Putter's a huge key. And obviously, the way the golf course was set up this week as well, the putter was a very, very key club in the bag. And obviously, yeah, it worked beautifully for me for most of the week. And then I would say today, I would probably rue it a little bit, if I'm honest. So, you know, yeah, you live and die by it. Kevin. John, I want to start this with you, John, but anybody else can pick it up after you're done. In America, we seem to be under a constant quest of like, what makes a good captain? We're still trying to figure it out. I'm curious what you think. What makes Luke such a good leader of men? There's so many things that Luke has done outstandingly professionally, so perfect, that it's hard to say one. Without getting too much into it, the level of professionalism he's showed us the last four years, his attention to detail in his pose, and his knowledge of the right of cup in the game, and what we do on the golf course day in, day out, was made this last two right of cups possible. He is the captain of this ship, and he's led us better than I can see anybody leading us. He set the bar extremely high for the future captains. Anybody else interested in following that? Like, what do you think makes Luke as good as he is? Just have a good 12 guys, that's about that. No, it's more than that. His communication skills. Let's not give it away. I'll shut up. No, I think, like, look, he. How about that? Let it be, Rory, let it be. The thing that's most inspiring, though, is to see him, how he's grown as a leader as well. I think over the course of four years, incredible commitment to himself, and therefore the team, has been unbelievable to witness. That's very good of you to be in Ireland. Yeah. Kyle. No comment. I'll throw it back to you, Luke. I think often, to kind of follow up what KBV was saying, with the Americans, they say, well, the Europeans just played better, they made more putts, et cetera. The more often that happens, the more it seems like the two-year build-up to that, all the attention to detail, all the infrastructure you guys have in place, it's why you play better. It's why you make more putts. Can you speak to what that attention to detail is like in that lead-up to the Ryder Cup? Yeah, I really have committed myself to this job, because I feel I owe it to the players, and I owe it to the Ryder Cup, which has been so special to me. I've had so many incredible experiences. So yeah, I've had to kind of put my own game a little bit to the side. And every day, I'm trying to think about things that could help us, come up with different things that might just give us a little edge. We came into this in New York. We knew New York was not going to be easy. It was rough. It was brutal at times out there. It really was. It was nasty sometimes. But I think when you prep these guys enough, and you communicate enough with these guys, and you give them a plan, and an idea, and a theme, and a motivation, they don't really need motivating. But the theme kind of causes the cohesion of the team. And I was very fortunate to have 11 of the same guys from Rome. But I'm brother. Brother! My job is, yeah, literally to give these guys a better chance to win. And it can be as simple as some very small things. I'll give you an example. At the hotel rooms this week, the doors to our hotel rooms had a big crack. It lit in light. We brought things that covered the light. We put different shampoos that had a better smell. We had a- The lab, if anyone's wondering, really nice. Really, really nice. We changed the bedding, because the beds weren't very good. And they just had sheets. And we created a much nicer bed, so guys could sleep. They could have more energy. So those are just little things. But I mean, I'm going into some really small details. Do you have snacks for everyone? I'll tell you what, you won't need to change the bedding in a dare manner. Maybe $1,500. $1,500 a night. But it's just taking the time and having the care that you want to do everything you can to kind of give these guys the best opportunity. You want to create an environment where they can succeed. These are 12 amazing players. We know that. So you're just trying to, again, put them in a position where they feel comfortable. Dylan? Yeah, Ludwig, two years ago, you were a pretty fresh face as a pro. Yesterday probably wasn't your favorite day. Today, you ended up with the only blue flag on the board. What did this week and today mean to you? Yeah, last time in Rome, it was sort of a whirlwind for me. Obviously, I just turned pro a couple of months prior. But I felt a little bit more comfortable this week, I guess, knowing a little bit more what to expect. But yeah, today, I was proud of the way that I played. And I'm proud of being a part of this team. There's 11 guys that I have tremendous joy to have been a part of and a captain that I'm so happy that he put trust in me. And I'm just trying to repay that by playing good golf. And yeah, today is a day that I'm going to remember for a very, very long time. James? Shane, you had the winning moment today. I guess I'm wondering when you woke up this morning if you thought there was any chance that you would be the guy to finish it out. And if you could just take us into that moment on 18, what was going through your head? Yeah, you only retained it, Shane. Just calm down. They're the one who should ride our club, by the way. But like, it was a bit of a two-pole from 10. Gosh, you know. To be honest, no. Obviously, I have faith in my team to go out. And I thought we were going to win the Ryder Cup early today. But it's not that we weren't all going out to win our own match. That was the main goal. And look, Luke, we were well-prepped on that last night. You don't want to take any complacency out there to that arena against those players. The US team are 12 amazing players. And we knew it was going to be very hard. But I didn't envision myself going up to 18, needing a birdie to retain the Ryder Cup. It was, yeah, like the worst two hours of my life. It was horrible. Honestly, it was. It was. But I said to my caddie walking down 18, I said, I've got an opportunity to do the greatest thing I've ever done today. And I did it. And I'm very proud of myself. Up here to Adam. Rory, obviously, between winning the Masters and today, you've been a part of some seriously emotional final days. I'm just curious about how you manage your emotions in big moments. Yeah, you try to, you know, you have something in your way or something ahead of you. And you just try to, for me, the easiest thing is just to break it down into smaller pieces. So, you know, as much of it is a cliche, whether it's one shot at a time, today, it was, honestly, it was like one foot in front of the other. It was, I felt like I was running on empty today. I gave so much of myself the first two days. And I tried as hard as I could out there against Scotty. Scotty and I both didn't have our best. It was a bit of a pillow fight, if I'm honest. But I dug in as much as I could. I held that putt on 15. But yeah, I just tried to stay in my own little bubble as much as possible. It was obviously quite difficult to do that at times. But I just knew every hole that I completed was a little bit closer to that goal that we all had in mind. And that was really the important thing. I was so appreciative to the VCs and Luke and everyone that was out there. Thomas Bjorn walked with me a lot today. And he just, he kept encouraging me. He kept just saying, seven more holes, six more holes, five more holes. And just to have, you know, that you've got that support of your team, it means a lot, especially in an environment like that out there. Adam Schupack. A question for Zeb. You had some exciting, stressful weeks. And now you're daddy of two boys and of two Ryder cubs. Come on, Zeb. And two Ryder cubs. How does it sound for you? How does it feel? Yeah, it's unbelievable. You know, the last couple of months have been a bit of a roller coaster for my wife and I. Little Thomas is doing well. He's in the hospital, but he's doing well. And you know, these guys, Luke and everybody, has been so unbelievable in supporting me. And yeah, I just, I can't thank everybody enough for the support that you guys have shown me throughout this whole thing. And yeah, I just cannot thank everybody enough. Congrats from Austria. Adam. Luke, over here. If you're asked to do this, if you're asked to do two more years, what's your answer? Two more years. Mine says I'm going to enjoy tonight. All right. Justin was the leader in Strokes game putting, but who's going to be the leader in Strokes game partying tonight? Zeb. Zeb will stay undefeated. I don't know. In Rome, I was leaving for the airport and I still saw Tyrell. People think it's me, but I'll be going early. Nah, nah, nah. Set, hands down. We'll have some fun, Austrian blood. Dark horse, dark horse in the back right. I got a bit scared of myself after 2018. Bitsy has to do his no-bar stuff. Bitsy has to fill in his stat sheet from today. Alan? This is for Luke, right over here to your left. You know, Europe dominated last decade. You guys are in position to do that again this decade. The sort of key connector between those eras is Rory. What does he mean to this team? You guys told us we wouldn't win one for 20 years, though. What about that decade of dominance, Alan? I failed to factor in the captains and what a big difference they make. But what does Rory mean to you guys? You know, not just his play, but his leadership and his confidence and all that's intangible. Look, you need your big players to step up. You know, looking at Rome, Victor was our FedExCup champ with Rory, with John. They had ten and a half points without playing together once in Rome. This week, you know, Rory's won four out of five. John, three. Three out of five. It's really my fault. You know, you argue Tommy maybe is, you know, four out of five. Come on, Tommy, come on. Come on, Tommy. You absolutely need your big guns to fire, you know? And I think that's what we're proud of, is that the U.S. guys, big guys, you know, the guns, they didn't get as many points as ours. And Rory has made no qualms about how important the Ryder Cup is to him. And I think that's inspiring to me. It's inspiring to his team. You know, maybe not quite on the same level as winning the Grand Slam and the Masters, but it's pretty effing close. It really is. He's talked to me about it many times, about how he wants to win an away Ryder Cup and how difficult that is. So to have someone, you know, of Rory's caliber, fighting so hard, that's inspiring for the team. And, you know, see, we can't do it alone, but it's very helpful when, you know, someone like Rory is contributing like he does. I mean, just related to that, when we talk about a player's place in history, it's always individual achievements. But if Rory wins eight or nine Ryder Cups, if he goes on to be the leading point earner, like how does that elevate him in the conversation? The Ryder Cup weeks are the best weeks of our lives. We talk about this all the time. You know, those individual accolades are fun. We individually, we want to achieve as much as we can. Rory has achieved so much in the game. You know, his place in history is set. But I think those weeks we spend together are the ones we remember the most and we cherish the most because of the times we get to spend with each other. Now that's a big part of my captaincy, is to create an environment where these guys have in the best weeks of their lives. Honestly, you know, we'll always remember this. We'll always go down in history. We talk about all the people that came before us, that paved the way for us. Now future generations will talk about this team tonight and what they did and how they were able to overcome one of the toughest environments in all of sport. And that is inspiring to me. And that's what Rory gets and all these other 11 guys get as well. Up to 13. Rory. Sorry, here. How sustainable for the game of golf is the level of abuse that you and others, I know, but received this weekend? I mean, is it something that you just have to accept or is it something that's taking the game in a dangerous direction? No, I don't think we should ever accept that in golf. I think golf should be held to a higher standard than what was seen out there this week. Golf has the ability to unite people. Golf teaches you very good life lessons. It teaches you etiquette. It teaches you how to play by the rules. It teaches you how to respect people. And sometimes this week we didn't see that. So no, this should not be what is acceptable in the Ryder Cup, but we will be making sure to say to our fans in Ireland in 2027 that what happened here this week is not acceptable. For me, come and support your home team. Come and support your team. I think if I was an American, I would be annoyed that people, I didn't hear a lot of shouts for Scotty today, but I heard a lot of shouts against me. And it's like, support your players. You know, that's the thing. So look, it was a rough week for all of us, but at the same time, you know, we shut them up by our performance and how we played. And we tried to, you know, I chirped back a few times because it caught to me a few times, but we tried to handle everything that came our way with class and poise. And for the most part, I felt like we did that. Mike 12. You have a question? Well, I was going to ask a similar question to Ali really, but when you've got police dogs and the police coming in, were you aware when that was happening? And have you ever seen anything quite like that on a golf course before when you've been playing? Wish they had to let the dogs off the leashes. No, honestly, like the amount, like the police out there and the amount of the security presence was insane. And it's not, look, nothing was going to happen. Nothing was going to happen where I, there wasn't really going to be any sort of physical altercation or anything like that, apart from maybe Tommy and Rosie up to the 16th tee yesterday. But look, it was just, it was, you know, there was a lot of language that was unacceptable and abusive behavior. And, but look, that's, and look, that's, it's a very, it's a minority of the crowd. It's not the majority. The majority of people here are true golf fans and are respectful. And let both teams have the same chance to hit the shots and play a fair contest. But, you know, there was, you know, there was a small subset of people that behaved a little bit differently than that. Up to 19. Rory, it's one thing when the abuse is directed at you guys as players, that's bad enough. But it seemed to spill over to sort of friends and family, the entourages of you guys. Obviously it was a lot of people inside the ropes this week, but videos come out yesterday of a beer being thrown at your wife. Firstly, is she okay? She seemed upset, obviously, after that. That's obviously something no one wants to go through. What was your view on that situation? And just, you know, the direction of this event as a whole with that in mind, that families don't feel comfortable inside the ropes. I mean, it's, it should be off limits, but obviously it wasn't this week. But Eric is fine. She is a very, very strong woman. You know, she handled everything this week with class and poise and dignity, like she always has. I love her, and we're going to have a good time celebrating tonight. Can I just pick up on that, if you don't mind? Because I actually had no idea that Eric had a beer thrown at her yesterday. So fair play to Erica. She didn't bring that to the team room. We didn't make that a big deal. That's news to me, which is, that says a lot about the strength of Erica and everybody in this team today. I was out there for two days with Erica McElroy, and the amount of abuse that she received was astonishing. And the way she was out there supporting her husband and supporting her team was unbelievable, and kudos to her for that. Go on, Erica. And Rory, with all that in mind, everything you go through, how satisfying is it to turn around to someone and say, quote, shut the F up and then stiff it to two feet? Very ******* satisfying. Congratulations. It wasn't stiff. It wasn't stiff, I had to putt it. Anyone got a question for the FedExCup champ now? For me, what did you see over that putt? What did I what? What did you see over that putt that Rory left you with? Right edge? Right center. Just pushed it in the right center. Too busy counting all that money from the FedExCup. Mike Six. Yeah, Luke, Rory and Shane together, it looks like a no-brainer. On paper, was it? Or was it a plan that you had for a long time? And how important was that role Shane played for Rory yesterday? He was like the big brother and the bouncer and the security guard and everything else rolled into one. Well, our plan for Friday was pretty set pretty early on. You obviously sometimes have to make adjustments, but we felt everyone was playing well. Everyone had an opportunity to play and contribute to the team. And we were excited about the team we had and the form they were in and how close they were. Obviously, Shane and Rory hadn't played together in a Ryder Cup before, right? We played about 15 holes in Western Straits. It was very unforgettable. Don't even remember that. I just need another one of these. But again, you know. You ran out. Yeah, these pairings. He doesn't know everything. I gotta give a lot of props to Eduardo. You know, Eduardo and I sit down and we chat for many, many hours about all the kinds of different stats and the pairings and the personalities and the course fits. And, you know, when you have a partnership like Rory and Shane, you know, they get along, obviously, amazingly well. And, you know, I think in four balls, that's really important. But it was a pretty natural pairing. I think everyone wants to play with Rory. There's not many people, when I say anyone, you don't want to play with. Rory's name doesn't come up very often. So, and to be honest, none of these guys' names come up very often. Often the answer is, I'll play with anyone. And that's what makes me proud as a leader. It's just the cohesion we have, the unity we have. You know, it makes making pairings quite easy because they all have each other's backs. And if I come up to them and say, what do you think about this? They're like, I trust in you, Luke, you know, let's go with it. So again, that is a nice thing to have. It's nice to not have those big egos in the team room. We'll finish up over here with Gabby. Luke, you mentioned there was a theme of the week. I was just wondering, can you share what that theme was? Well, our theme was we were trying to win for a fifth time away. You know, we talked about it at the beginning of the week. The practice shirts were based off the wins we'd already had away, 87, 95, 04, 2012, yeah, 2012. Everything we did was sort of centered around that and to make the guys feel that we had done it quite often. You know, in 10 Ryder Cups since 83, we'd won four of them and we'd come damn close three other times. So this wasn't an impossible task. We knew it was going to be difficult, but you want to inspire them to know that it can be done. You know, my job again is to give them the reasons to make them believe that they can win. And so that was really our theme. Thanks everybody. Thank you. And subscribe here.