Justin Rose has been the long-time favorite to take over from Luke Donald. But Ryder Cup Europe may have to go elsewhere. Here’s who’s in the running…
The shortlist to Europe’s next Ryder Cup captain is, it seems, down to two.
Justin Rose told TG at the Genesis Scottish Open in July that he would “love” to lead the side at Adare Manor in 2027 and that, when his time comes, it would be a responsibility to which he would “give everything”.
The problem – if you can call it that – is that Rose then went and won the FedEx St Jude Championship, the first of the three PGA Tour season-ending playoffs, and secured an automatic spot on Luke Donald’s team at Bethpage.
And his experience in New York, where he put two points on the board to take his personal tally to 17-and-a-half and move into the all-time top 10, has left Rose thirsty for more.
A report by The Telegraph‘s James Corrigan earlier this week said sources close to the Englishman confirmed he wants to pull on the blue and gold for an eighth time.
TG has subsequently reached out to Rose’s team, who confirmed that he “does want to play in another one”, but also he has yet to have any discussions with Ryder Cup Europe’s decision makers as he concentrates on enjoying his downtime after 20 events in eight months.
Rose made it clear in that interview at Renaissance that he isn’t interested in a player-captain role. “I’m not sure that’s a role we should be entertaining really,” he said. “I think there would need to be very extenuating circumstances for that to be the case.”
That leaves the panel of selectors with a choice of two. Do they give Donald a third go at it? While the 47-year-old is apparently “less than 50-50”, according to Corrigan, if he decides he wants to do it, then it’s going to be very hard for Ryder Cup Europe to deny him a shot at becoming the first captain to ever win three in a row.
The headache it causes, though, is that it immediately moves away from the organization’s plan to have captains work on two-tournament cycles moving forward – first leading at a home Ryder Cup before tackling an away match.
If Donald decides he’s happy to stick on two, then Francesco Molinari will be the favorite to take the role.
His brother, Edoardo, has already ruled himself out of ever getting the top job, preferring instead to focus on his role as the team’s lead statistician. It means the younger sibling can make the step up from vice-captain, a role he carried out in Rome and New York to much praise from players and fellow assistants alike.
Molinari, the 2018 Open champion, represented Team Europe in 2010 and 2018, the latter of which saw him become one of just three players in the Ryder Cup’s modern era to win all five matches in a single tournament.
He already has the backing of two of the stars of Bethpage and has captaincy experience at the Team Cup – where his Continental Europe side were, somewhat ironically, defeated by a Rose-led GB&I.
If the Italian is appointed, he would likely captain the side at Adare Manor and Hazeltine in 2029, which would then leave the door open for Rose to take over for the next two in Spain and Los Angeles.
TG’s Michael Catling contributed to this article.
