A dominant Ryder Cup win for Team Europe, led so successfully by their captain that he earned the right to marshal the troops again in 2025.
Henrik Stenson could not have wished for anything more when, 18 months out from Europe's bid to reclaim the Ryder Cup in Rome, confirmation came that the Swede would lead the team.
The Marco Simone Golf & Country Club played host to a dominant three days for the European dozen. But it was not Stenson at the centre of the triumphant scenes. Nor was it Stenson serenaded with the “two more years” chants by his players at the trophy presentation.
Instead it was Luke Donald, in charge in Rome as he will be in New York next year. Stenson had long since been stripped of the captaincy following his move to LIV Golf. He was a spectator, more than 5,000 miles away in Florida, as the United States' winless run away from home extended beyond 30 years.
“I watched some of it,” Stenson tells Standard Sport. “With the time difference, the two morning sessions were pretty much done by the time I woke up.
“Clearly the boys did a phenomenal job and racked up a big lead. On Sunday, as there always is, one team rallies back a little bit and at one point it looked tighter. It ended up with a European win as you thought it would after two days.
“All the plans put in place worked out and paid dividends on home soil.”
Stenson held the European captaincy for just 127 days. He made clear his frustration at the time that he had not been allowed to continue in his role alongside playing in LIV events, but Ryder Cup Europe stated he would "not be able to fulfil certain contractual obligations”.
Donald received significant praise for the environment he created for the players, in the build-up to the Ryder Cup and in the week itself. Stenson though feels much of what was successful had longer-term roots.
“Quite a lot of that was carrying on from the work that we started a year out,” Stenson says.
“All the changes on the golf course, and quite a few of the people who were involved with the team. Even though I wasn’t anywhere near the team, I still knew what was going on.
"Some of those things were put in place a while back - I knew how the golf bags were looking, I knew what fairways and bunkers were put in place, and who was in charge of the analytics on the team with Edoardo [Molinari]. There weren’t too many surprises with what was going on.”
Jon Rahm’s form in Rome certainly did not surprise anyone, the Spaniard unbeaten in his four matches. There was little unexpected too about the confirmation of his move to LIV in December, after intense speculation.
Stenson feels Rahm has given LIV “great momentum” heading into a new season and points to how conversations have already been sparked regarding the Ryder Cup and eligibility for PGA Tour and DP World Tour events.
Rory McIlroy has insisted Europe must be able to select Rahm at Bethpage Black next year, while also admitting he was “too judgmental” of the first players to join LIV.
“If Rory has come to other insights and conclusions now than he had before, that’s up to him,” Stenson says.
“I’ve had some conversations with Rory between him and I about a different thing about a month ago, and that’s kind of behind me at this point.”
Was that following a tweet from McIlroy, in which he described Stenson’s move to LIV as the “best thing to happen” to the European Ryder Cup team?
“I had a conversation with Rory at the time, yes,” Stenson replies bluntly.
He is reluctant to discuss that exchange, having opted against joining Majesticks team-mates Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter in responding publicly.
“I don’t feel like Twitter is necessarily the place and the platform to discuss certain things,” Stenson says. "We all make our own choices about where we choose to vent stuff.”
Stenson’s focus instead is on his own game in a year that brings an Open at Royal Troon, the site of his major victory eight years ago after an epic showdown with Phil Mickelson. It will be just his third return to the course since lifting the Claret Jug.
The Swede is confident he can still be “very competitive” on golf’s biggest stage, having finished in a tie for 13th at the Open last year.
“The tougher the golf courses, the more it suits the way I manage my way around,” he says.
By the time attention shifts to Scotland this summer, it is hoped a formal agreement between the PGA Tour and LIV will have been reached. Support for a unified, global calendar, potentially including team events, appears to be gathering momentum, but Stenson predicts more independent futures for the two tours.
“Those suggestions were being made back in the day, but they weren’t being listened to or taken into account in any shape or form,” Stenson says.
“It’s interesting to hear those views [now], when that was potentially the solution from the beginning. Those days are past - I feel it’s two separate entities running at this point.
"How you integrate everything together in a schedule, that’s going to take some figuring out. It’s not something I’m laying awake at night trying to figure out.”
