The European Ryder Cup team continues to run it back.
On Tuesday, Luke Donald named Thomas Bjorn as his second Vice Captain for the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in New York from Sept. 26-28, 2025. Bjorn was a Vice Captain on Donald’s 2023 squad that beat the Americans 16½-11½ in Rome, Italy. It will be his sixth time as a Vice Captain in the biennial contest and 10th time overall he has been a part of Team Europe, including in 2018 when he was the captain for the European victory in Paris.
“It was a natural progression from last time,” Bjorn said. “Luke called me and said he wanted me to carry on into New York, understanding that it’s going to be a completely different Ryder Cup in 2025 at Bethpage. We had some conversations back and forth mostly about how to go from the victory in Rome and into a new set up for New York, debriefing on what happened in Rome and how we carry it forward.”
Bjorn, 53, is Donald’s second selection as Vice Captain. Edoardo Molinari, who was appointed in January, was the first.
“I am very excited to have Thomas back on the team,” Donald said. “Once I was appointed as Captain again, my thoughts quickly went to who I wanted to have in the backroom staff. And Thomas certainly was one of those. He means a lot to me. He’s passed on his knowledge and I’ve had a great relationship with him over the last few years. To have those relationships, to enjoy the people you’re spending time with along that journey is really important.”
As a player, he was part of three European victories in 1997, 2002 and 2014. Now, he’s back on Donald’s squad as the Europeans look to have similar success next year on American soil.
“We had a fantastic environment in Rome,” Bjorn said. “Luke did an amazing job. He was a fantastic leader, not just of 12 players, but of the whole Ryder Cup Europe team that worked so hard behind the scenes. It was amazing for me to be part of that because I knew how all of those things worked from Paris. To see how he added a few extra things in Rome and made it even better was amazing and I was very proud of him. He was exceptional.”