Englishman Luke Donald will replace the sacked Henrik Stenson as captain of the European team in the 2023 Ryder Cup in Italy, according to a report in the Telegraph.
Stenson was canned two weeks ago after announcing he would join LIV Golf, the rival tour backed by Saudi Arabian royalty and clouded in controversy for that country’s poor record of human rights abuses and other atrocities. Stenson begins play on that tour today at Trump Bedminster in New Jersey. The longtime independent contractor has expressed disappointment in losing the honorary Ryder Cup job after breaking his captaincy contract that forbid him from playing on a rival tour by signing a lucrative contract with LIV Golf.
Donald – a four-time Ryder Cup player (2004, ’06, ’10, ’12), five-time PGA Tour winner and six-time DP World Tour winner who played college golf at Northwestern – was long rumored as a potential captain at some future Ryder Cup. The former World No. 1 served as a vice captain in the past two Ryder Cups and is playing this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic on the PGA Tour in Detroit.
