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Tommy Fleetwood declares who the whole European team would ‘love’ as Ryder Cup captain for 2027

Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images
Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images
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Tommy Fleetwood is among the Ryder Cup stars chasing success in Dubai this week at the DP World Tour Championship.

Fleetwood is one of nine European Ryder Cup players taking on the final DP World Tour event of the season, which takes place at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

But just two of his teammates from Bethpage Black – Rory McIlroy and Tyrrell Hatton – are capable of winning the Race to Dubai.

DP World Tour Championship defending champion McIlroy leads the Race to Dubai rankings with Hatton in third, either side of Marco Penge.

Team Europe celebrate winning the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black
Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images

Tommy Fleetwood says who the European players want as their 2027 Ryder Cup captain

Also taking part in the tournament are the likes of recent Ryder Cup champions Shane Lowry, Ludvig Aberg and Justin Rose.

And their teammate Fleetwood has now declared who the collective group would like to see captain the European team at the 2027 Ryder Cup.

Asked on Sky Sports Golf if he wants Luke Donald to stay on in the role, and if he thinks he will, Fleetwood replied: “I think all of us as players in this team would love Luke to stay on. He’s been an unbelievable captain, he’s been an unbelievable leader.

“I would class Luke as a very close friend, and to watch how he’s grown as a leader over this period, from all the way through his captaincy in Rome to now, honestly to just watch him grow into it, to be the person he is now and the leader that he is now is amazing.

“I think we would all love him to stay on and continue just with the… I feel like the story has still got a little bit to go, so I would love him to do that.

“But it’s completely his choice. With the captain he’s been he’s earned the right to decide what he wants to do.

“We will see. He’s been amazing, and yeah, I guess we’ll all wait and see what Luke Donald wants to do next.”

READ MORE: LIV Golf player wants to be Europe’s Ryder Cup captain in 2027 even though ‘people will say I don’t deserve it’

Tommy Fleetwood explains how prepared Europe were for the Ryder Cup under Luke Donald

Donald can now be considered a veteran in the role, having also captained Team Europe at the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome.

On both occasions his side have emerged victorious, with the players understandably eager for the Englishman to stay in the role.

Donald could stay as Ryder Cup captain, which would obviously be a massive boost for the hosts at Adare Manor.

When asked just how prepared the European team were at Bethpage Black under their leader, Fleetwood said: “Yeah, I think we were unbelievably well prepared.

“And I think that’s something that was a standout for us. We were confident as a team. But I think you always have to go in with confidence as a team. I’ve played as a team and felt confident that we’re going to win and didn’t, we’ve been hammered.

“But yeah, we were confident as a team, we were very well prepared and as a group, and the pairings, to have had that Friday and Saturday was like dream stuff. You couldn’t have written it any better for us.

“I felt like Saturday evening at the golf course was one of honestly the most special atmospheres I’ve ever seen.

“Like it was so amazing for us, and the team that we had behind us, the planning that had gone into it, and then for us to execute in the way we did was it was amazing, it really was.”

Whether a different captain would be as meticulous as Donald remains to be seen, but it’s clear that the Americans fell short in that regard under Keegan Bradley.

Bradley could stay on as a Ryder Cup captain too, despite the American coming in for plenty of criticism for his side’s loss and indeed the nature of it in New York.