Ryder Cup: Paul McGinley named Team Europe’s strategic adviser for Luke Donald’s side at Bethpage Black

Former Ryder Cup-winning captain Paul McGinley has been named as strategic adviser to Luke Donald’s European team for the 2025 contest in New York.

The Irishman led Europe to victory in the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in Scotland, having previously featured on three winning teams as a player and twice more as a vice-captain, with McGinley also been part of the Ryder Cup Advisory Committee since 2019.

McGinley joins Donald’s backroom team for the biennial event, where Europe look to retain the trophy and claim a historic win on American soil after their 16.5-11.5 success over Team USA in Rome last September.

“It is clear we have built a very strong template for winning at home in Ryder Cups but I see my job as helping Luke [Donald], his vice captains and his backroom team to look at an away match differently to how we’ve looked at it before,” McGinley said.

“I would say that the first important step we made in that regard was to reappoint Luke as captain. He has the most recent experience of anyone in that role and we should look to utilise that experience and harness his knowledge.

“In addition to advising strategically on an away match, I see this role as two-fold for me. Firstly, I will be very much in the background as an independent sounding board for Luke and his vice-captain, someone they can confide in, converse with and bounce ideas off.

“Secondly, I will provide an important link between Luke and the advisory committee so that not only are they aware of team plans, but also to ensure we are all pulling in the same direction.”

Donald: McGinley ‘redefined’ Ryder Cup captaincy

Thomas Bjorn and Edoardo Molinari return to their roles as vice-captains again, having been part of Donald’s backroom team in 2023, with McGinley adding further experience behind the scenes in Europe’s bid to retain the trophy at Bethpage Black.

“He [McGinley] is someone that you have to listen to when talk turns to the Ryder Cup,” Donald said. “Naturally, I am delighted to have him formally involved with the 2025 team.

“I might not have been at Gleneagles in 2014 but I know what an amazing job Paul did. He redefined a lot of the Ryder Cup captain’s role with his meticulous approach to it, and I feel every captain since 2014 has benefited in some way from what he achieved at Gleneagles.

“I personally got a lot of sound guidance from Paul in the build-up to Rome, which was a massive help. Myself and Paul, as well as my two vice-captains, Edoardo [Molinari] and Thomas [Bjorn], all have similar beliefs as to what it means to represent Team Europe and what we expect from our players.”

Donald is Europe’s first repeat captain since Bernard Gallacher led Team Europe in three consecutive Ryder Cups in 1991, 1993 and 1995. The former world No 1 is looking to be the first person since Tony Jacklin to lead Europe to back-to-back Ryder Cup victories.

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