How the 2025 Ryder Cup was won: Three crucial moves Europe made to ensure victory

This was no fairytale in New York nor a freak result. The first Ryder Cup away win since 2012 - though too close for comfort in the end - was the product of meticulous planning and attention to detail by Luke Donald and his backroom staff.

“They deserved to win,” said US skipper Keegan Bradley. “They're a great team. In my eyes, Luke Donald is the best European Ryder Cup captain of all time.”

Neither of the captains had scheduled to lead their teams at Bethpage Black. Before LIV Golf, the combustible pairing of Phil Micklelson and Ian Poulter had seemed a dream pairing. And Henrik Stenson was appointed for Rome before joining the Saudi-backed league and giving Donald his chance.

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Bradley, 39, was only appointed last year after the PGA of America failed to persuade Tiger Woods to take the job. They will try again for 2027. But re-appointing Donald for Long Island was the first step in ending home domination in the competition.

The 2014 captain Paul McGinley, who is the team’s special advisor, said: “The first roll of all of the dice was to take back a captain who'd been there before. We felt that there was a mistake going on the road with captains who haven't done it before and, trying to learn the job of being a captain, as well as dealing with the difficult challenge of playing away from home.

“The second thing was data showing us that rookies don't really perform away from home. It's very difficult to play your first Ryder Cup in that environment. So experience was important.”

Through stats guru Edoardo Molinari, Europe tweaked the selection system to see six players qualify off a combined points list and six wildcards. The result was 11 of the players from the victorious Rome team and only one rookie. Rasmus Hojgaard lost both his matches.

McGinley added: “The third big thing was the communication so the players so they could deal with this cauldron of playing away from home. There were no surprises. This was the most prepared team I've ever come across. We have come at this very differently from any away match. The Americans are obviously being paid to play in the Ryder Cup. Our players don't want to be paid, but we are investing more money in this team than we've ever done before in terms of preparation.”

This included virtual reality headsets to replicate crowd noise, a two-day bonding trip to Bethpage Black earlier this month and extensive statistical analysis by Molinari.

But in the post-match press conference, cool hand Luke showed rare emotion as he praised his players - and gave insight into the detailed planning needed to succeed against the odds.

“My job is literally to give these guys a better chance to win,” he said. “It can be as simple as some very small things.

“I'll give you an example. At the hotel rooms this week, the doors to our hotel rooms had a big crack that let in light. We brought things that covered the light. We put different shampoos that had a better smell. We changed the bedding because the beds weren't very good, and they just had sheets, and we created much nicer beds so guys could sleep. They could have more energy. Those are just little things. I'm going into some really small details.”

The former world No.1 joins fellow Englishman Tony Jacklin as the only European captain to win home and away. He is now unbeaten in six Ryder Cups after also winning all four he played. But the softly spoken, understated US-based star, 47, has gained more recognition and love as a captain than he ever did as a player.

“I really have committed myself to this job because I feel I owe it to the players and I owe it to the Ryder Cup which has been so special to me,” said Donald. “I've had so many incredible experiences.

“I've had to kind of put my own game a little bit to the side, and every day I'm trying to think about things that could help us, come up with different things that might just give us a little edge.

“We came into this in New York, and we knew New York was not going to be easy. It was rough. It was brutal at times out there. It really was. It was nasty sometimes. I am so proud of the team.”

The consistent theme was becoming only the fifth European Ryder Cup team to win away. The uniforms of the four successful teams - from 1987, 1995 2004 and 2012 - were worn at Bethpage Black last week.

Jon Rahm said: There's so many things that Luke has done outstandingly professionally, so perfect, that it's hard to say one. He is the captain of this ship, and he's led us better than I can see anybody leading us. He set the bar extremely high for the future captains.”

And the Spaniard added: “Two more years!” Shane Lowry laughed: “Let's do it again in Ireland!”