Padraig Harrington shocked by decision Luke Donald made before the 2025 Ryder Cup, ‘he’s put his neck on the line’

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Luke Donald does not appear to have got anything wrong since being appointed as the European Ryder Cup captain for the first time back in 2022.

It is almost easy to forget now that Luke Donald stepped in to lead Europe at the 2023 Ryder Cup only after Henrik Stenson was stripped of the captaincy ahead of his move to LIV Golf.

The Englishman led his side to a largely comfortable victory at Marco Simone. In fact, the players were chanting for Donald to stay on for two more years before he had even lifted the trophy in the Italian capital.

Donald labelled the chants a highlight of his career.

Padraig Harrington surprised by decision Luke Donald has made ahead of the Ryder Cup

Indeed, the 47-year-old will lead Europe once again, this time at Bethpage Black. He is looking to become the first away captain to win the Ryder Cup since Jose Maria Olazabal in 2012.

Europe appear to have put some fantastic foundations in place. Rory McIlroy has praised the team Donald has put together for New York. But some think the former world number one has taken a real risk.

Speaking on Indo Sport, Padraig Harrington commented on Donald deciding to stay on as captain for a second time and insisted that it is a big gamble given how high his stock was after Rome.

“Yeah, I think it was the only choice. He’d done such a great job the first time. I was surprised he wanted to go again. A winning captain is a great thing. He’s putting it all on the line. And sure enough, if he wins again, he will be the greatest captain of all-time, no doubt about it,” he said.

“But he has put it out there. He could have walked away as a winning captain. Now, he’s put himself out there, he’s put his neck on the line in many ways. Fair play to him.

“He’s definitely the man for the job. Obviously, we have a bit of a change at the moment. Without the LIV players being captains, there wasn’t a lot of people who could step into it. I’m a big fan of giving the job to many people, I think it’s an honour to be Ryder Cup captain and I think everybody who has served the European Tour well should get that honour.

“But in this particular circumstance, Luke was definitely the man for the job, there was no-one else. He’s worked tirelessly towards it. He’s in an ideal part of his career where he can focus on this and I do believe, I know it’s a cliche, he’s left no stone unturned. He’s going to be trying everything possible and a few new things to counteract this home crowd.”

The European captains who have won the Ryder Cup on American soil

Remarkably, Donald has never been on a losing side in the Ryder Cup as a player or as the captain – and two of those victories came on American soil. He is also coming up against an American skipper who lost both of his Ryder Cups as a player in Keegan Bradley.

Donald will be looking to become only the fifth European captain to win in America.

But he will be under no illusions regarding the size of the task in New York.

If Europe do leave Bethpage with the trophy still in their possession, there will be a strong argument that Donald will have to be considered their greatest Ryder Cup captain ever.