Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy announce lengthy TGL delay due to dramatic venue collapse
Luke Donald has laid down the gauntlet to Tiger Woods after Europe’s Ryder Cup-winning captain challenged the American to lead the USA team against him in 2025. Englishman Donald, who lives in Florida and plays on the PGA Tour, proved to be the perfect skipper for the European team at Rome’s Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in September, masterminding a brilliant 16.5-11.5 home victory that brought the trophy back into European hands and ensured that the American’s winless streak on away soil will stretch to at least 34 years.
Donald’s calculated approach, ability to foster team spirit and unflappable demeanour made him an almost automatic choice to continue in the role of captain at New York’s notorious Bethpage Black in 2025. And his reappointment was officially confirmed on Wednesday, much to the delight of the European players.
In stark contrast, the USA team is in urgent need of a fresh start with Woods touted as the favourite to spearhead a fightback on home soil in two years’ time. The prospect of the game’s all-time great leading his country at a Ryder Cup has whetted the appetite of Americans, but it turns out that Donald is just as keen to see the 15-time Major champion appointed US skipper as anyone else.
As per Sky Sports, Donald said: “The desire to win, whoever the captain is, is strong. Yeah, obviously, Tiger’s been mentioned as a possible candidate and we’ll have to wait and see. If it’s him great, if it’s someone else, great.
“In the meantime, my role is to try and, again, start the preparations and try and figure out the best opportunity for us to be successful again come September in 2025 in New York. So that’s really my focus.
“I’ve got to play a lot of times with Tiger in my career. I have great admiration for what he’s done, what he’s done in the game. You would think he was going to be a Ryder Cup captain at some point and if it’s this time, great, if it’s another time, great, but, again, it’s not really my focus.
“Again, it’s something a little bit out of my control, so I’m not really trying to think about it and once it happens, then we’ll address it. But if it’s Tiger or someone else, again, I’m looking forward to the challenge of being captain once more.”
Regardless of whether Woods becomes US captain for 2025 or not, Donald faces the daunting task of trying to repeat the European heroics of Rome in New York. No European team has won on American soil since 2012 when a side that included Donald as a player produced a stunning comeback to win the ‘Miracle of Medinah’.
But arguably there would be even more pressure on Woods, should he take up the challenge, as anything other than a victory on home soil would be considered a failure Stateside and tarnish his remarkable sporting reputation.
Don’t miss…
LIV Golf star Cameron Smith shows true colours with gesture after expletive rant[GESTURE]
LIV golf star grabs spot in the Open via loophole months after ditching PGA tour[LOOPHOLE]
Tiger Woods angers Scottish locals as thousands sign petition to stop redevel…[REVOLT]
- Support fearless journalism
- Read The Daily Express online, advert free
- Get super-fast page loading
Such is the confidence in Donald that the Europeans will fancy their chances of pulling off a historic away victory at Bethpage Black and with young rising stars like Norway’s Viktor Hovland and Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg coming through the ranks it will be a difficult call for Woods.
The sporting icon has so far played down the prospect of him becoming US captain, preferring to concentrate on the PGA Tour’s protracted merger with LIV Golf.
Speaking ahead of his return to the fairways at the Hero World Challenge, he said: “Right now, there’s too much at stake with our Tour to think about a Ryder Cup. We have to get this done and we have to be focused on this right now. The Ryder Cup can take a beat – the players and everyone involved understands that this is an issue we need to focus on.”
Source: Read Full Article
