Luke Donald quiet on Ryder Cup future after Bethpage success

Luke Donald remained tight-lipped on his future as he soaked up the magnitude of his latest Ryder Cup victory.

The European captain followed up his team’s stunning success in Rome by overseeing their first away triumph since 2012 at Bethpage Black on Sunday.

Victory arrived in dramatic circumstances, by the narrow margin of 15-13, after the United States threatened to pull off an unlikely comeback.

The hosts, comprehensively outplayed over the first two days and trailing by seven points heading into the singles, roared back into contention with a series of thrilling wins but Europe eventually inched over the line.

As after the Italian triumph two years ago, the calls for Donald stay on for another term began almost immediately with celebrating players chanting “two more years” towards their inspirational leader.

Donald, however, with his place among the competition’s greats already assured, would make no such commitment.

The 47-year-old, who also won on all four of his playing appearances, simply said: “My answer is I’m going to enjoy tonight!”

Donald left nothing to chance in his preparations for the event and his tactical decisions almost all came off.

Jon Rahm, who helped deliver three points, was one player to heap praise on the captain.

“There’s so many things that Luke has done outstandingly professionally, so perfect,” said the Spaniard.

“He is the captain of this ship, and he’s led us better than I can see anybody leading us. He’s set the bar extremely high for the future captains.”

Donald gave some insight into the level of detail he had gone into during the team’s post-event press conference.

Much was made of the virtual reality headsets he used in an attempt to prepare the team for the hostile reception they duly encountered.

Yet his planning went much deeper, with even bed coverings and the scent of shampoo being considered.

He said: “My job is literally to give these guys a better chance to win. It can be as simple as some very small things.

“I’ll give you an example. The doors to our hotel rooms had a big crack that let in light. We brought things that covered the light.

“We put different shampoos that had a better smell. We changed the bedding because the beds weren’t very good.

“We created much nicer beds so guys could sleep, they could have more energy.”

Ludvig Aberg, who beat Patrick Cantlay, was the only European player to win a singles match as the Americans finally found their game to claim six full points.

The rest of Europe’s points came in halves after the big guns of Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose and Rahm were all beaten.

Viktor Hovland’s match with Harris English was declared a draw after the Norwegian pulled out injured and Matt Fitzpatrick held off a charging Bryson DeChambeau at the 18th.

Shane Lowry, in match number eight, sank the vital putt to retain the cup and further halves from Tyrrell Hatton and Robert MacIntyre completed the job.