European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald has named Paul McGinley as a strategic adviser to his team for the 2025 event at Bethpage Black.
Taking on the Americans in the hot bed of New York will be arguably Europe's toughest ever challenge, and Donald has brought in one of the best Ryder Cup brains around to help him out.
The USA recently appointed John Wood in a newly created role of team manager as they look to win back the Ryder Cup - and new Europe have answered with a new role of their own.
Donald has already confirmed Edoardo Molinari and Thomas Bjorn will return as vice-captains after also helping him out in Europe's 16½-11½ victory at Marco Simone in Rome last year.
And now Donald has brought in 2014 winning captain McGinley, who also won three Ryder Cups as a player and two more as vice-captain and is widely regarded as one of the most savvy golfing brains around - especially when it comes to team golf.
“Paul is someone whose thoughts and opinions on golf I have always respected," Donald said of his latest appointment.
"He is someone that you have to listen to when talk turns to the Ryder Cup. Naturally, I am delighted to have him formally involved with the 2025 team.
“I might not have been at Gleneagles in 2014 but I know what an amazing job Paul did. He redefined a lot of the Ryder Cup captain’s role with his meticulous approach to it, and I feel every captain since 2014 has benefited in some way from what he achieved at Gleneagles.
“I personally got a lot of sound guidance from Paul in the build up to Rome which was a massive help to me. Myself and Paul, as well as my two vice-captains, Edoardo and Thomas, all have similar beliefs as to what it means to represent Team Europe and what we expect from our players.”
McGinley made a huge impact as 2014 Ryder Cup captain with his use of stats, tactics and motivational tools as he led Europe to a 16½-11½ victory at Gleneagles - the same scoreline Donald managed in Italy.
Taking on America in front of the fiercest set of fans you could imagine will be a different story, but McGinley has experience of success overseas having been a player in Europe's 2004 Oakland Hills triumph, and a vice-captain to Jose Maria Olazabal for the 2012 Miracle of Medinah.
“It is clear we have built a very strong template for winning at home in Ryder Cups but I see my job as helping Luke, his vice-captains and his backroom team to look at an away match differently to how we’ve looked at it before," said McGinley.
“I would say that the first important step we made in that regard was to reappoint Luke as captain. He has the most recent experience of anyone in that role and we should look to utilise that experience and harness his knowledge.
“In addition to advising strategically on an away match, I see this role as two-fold for me. Firstly, I will be very much in the background as an independent sounding board for Luke and his vice-captains, someone they can confide in, converse with and bounce ideas off.
“Secondly, I will provide an important link between Luke and the Advisory Committee so that not only are they aware of team plans, but also to ensure we are all pulling in the same direction.”
Donald is Europe's first repeat captain since Bernard Gallacher took charge of three from 1991-95, and he's hoping to become just the second European captain to win home and away after Tony Jacklin.
