European Captain Thomas Bjørn has announced that Luke Donald, Padraig Harrington, Graeme McDowell and Lee Westwood will join Robert Karlsson to complete the European Vice Captain line-up for The 2018 Ryder Cup against the United States at Le Golf National, in France, from September 28-30.
The quartet will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Dane’s backroom team courtesy of a combined 24 Ryder Cup appearances, joining Swede Karlsson, who featured in the 2006 and 2008 contests, to bring that total figure to 26. Between them, Donald, Harrington, Karlsson, McDowell and Westwood have also amassed a grand total of 56 points for Europe over the 19-year spell from 1997 to 2016.
Outside The Ryder Cup arena, the newly revealed quartet are also hugely respected for their individual golfing achievements on the global stage, with Harrington and McDowell both Major Champions, while Donald and Westwood have each held the World Number One spot on the Official World Golf Ranking. Added to that, of course, Karlsson is a former European Number One.
Donald has featured in four victorious European Ryder Cup Teams, winning 10½ points from his 15 matches, including a critical victory in the opening singles match against Bubba Watson during the Miracle of Medinah in 2012. The 40-year-old Englishman has won seven European Tour titles, and in 2011, the year he claimed the World Number One spot, he became the first player to win the money lists in Europe and America in the same year.
Harrington played in six Ryder Cups between 1999 and 2010, featuring as part of a winning European Team on four occasions, and was a vice captain at Gleneagles in 2014 and again two years ago at Hazeltine National. The 46-year-old Irishman was Europe’s Number One in 2007 after winning The Open Championship at Carnoustie, and he retained the Claret Jug the following year, before claiming his third Major Championship at the US PGA Championship a month later.
McDowell has appeared in the biennial contest on four occasions, famously claiming the winning point at The Celtic Manor Resort in 2010, three months after becoming the first European in 40 years to win the US Open. The 38-year-old Northern Irishman claimed three points from his three matches at Gleneagles four years ago, setting the tone for a European triumph with a 2&1 victory in the lead singles match against Jordan Spieth, and has won a total of nine points from his 15 Ryder Cup matches.
Westwood made his debut at Valderrama in 1997, the only previous occasion that Continental Europe has hosted The Ryder Cup, and has played in each of the last ten Ryder Cups - eight of them as part of a winning European Team - with Sir Nick Faldo the only player to have made more appearances against the United States. The 45 year old Englishman has contributed an impressive 23 points in the blue of Europe to rank as the continent’s fourth highest points scorer in the biennial contest. He has also enjoyed considerable individual success in the global game, winning 23 European Tour titles, topping the European money list in 2000 and 2009, and holding the World Number One spot in 2010, when he ended Tiger Woods’ five-year reign.
The 2018 Ryder Cup itself, the 42nd staging of the contest, will be played at Le Golf National, France, from September 28-30, where Europe will try to regain the trophy following defeat at Hazeltine National last year, with the aiming of extending an impressive winning record on home soil which stretches back to Valderrama in 1997.
Donald has featured in four victorious European Ryder Cup Teams, winning 10½ points from his 15 matches, including a critical victory in the opening singles match against Bubba Watson during the Miracle of Medinah in 2012. The 40-year-old Englishman has won seven European Tour titles, and in 2011, the year he claimed the World Number One spot, he became the first player to win the money lists in Europe and America in the same year.
Harrington played in six Ryder Cups between 1999 and 2010, featuring as part of a winning European Team on four occasions, and was a vice captain at Gleneagles in 2014 and again two years ago at Hazeltine National. The 46-year-old Irishman was Europe’s Number One in 2007 after winning The Open Championship at Carnoustie, and he retained the Claret Jug the following year, before claiming his third Major Championship at the US PGA Championship a month later.
McDowell has appeared in the biennial contest on four occasions, famously claiming the winning point at The Celtic Manor Resort in 2010, three months after becoming the first European in 40 years to win the US Open. The 38-year-old Northern Irishman claimed three points from his three matches at Gleneagles four years ago, setting the tone for a European triumph with a 2&1 victory in the lead singles match against Jordan Spieth, and has won a total of nine points from his 15 Ryder Cup matches.
Westwood made his debut at Valderrama in 1997, the only previous occasion that Continental Europe has hosted The Ryder Cup, and has played in each of the last ten Ryder Cups - eight of them as part of a winning European Team - with Sir Nick Faldo the only player to have made more appearances against the United States. The 45 year old Englishman has contributed an impressive 23 points in the blue of Europe to rank as the continent’s fourth highest points scorer in the biennial contest. He has also enjoyed considerable individual success in the global game, winning 23 European Tour titles, topping the European money list in 2000 and 2009, and holding the World Number One spot in 2010, when he ended Tiger Woods’ five-year reign.
The 2018 Ryder Cup itself, the 42nd staging of the contest, will be played at Le Golf National, France, from September 28-30, where Europe will try to regain the trophy following defeat at Hazeltine National last year, with the aiming of extending an impressive winning record on home soil which stretches back to Valderrama in 1997.
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