Team Europe has found its most successful weapon against Team USA, and it isn’t letting it go. Honestly, rightfully so. While Luke Donald is returning to Adare Manor with his eyes set on a historic three-peat, Scottie Scheffler is weighing in on the challenge ahead as the American side remains in a holding pattern waiting for Tiger Woods to take the helm.

“No, I hadn’t seen anything on that,” Scheffler said at Bay Hill. “He’s had some pretty good results the last two Cups, and obviously, I think we’ll be hoping to change that when we go over to Ireland next year. Obviously, he’s had a lot of success, and he’s pretty good at it, so if I were the European team, I would probably try to be trying to convince him to come back as well.”

After leading Europe to a resounding 16½–11½ victory at Marco Simone in Rome in his captaincy debut in 2023, Donald became the first captain to lead a road team to victory since 2012 with a 15-13 victory at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, N.Y., in September 2025. So, it was only a matter of time before the European side saw Donald as the only real choice for 2027.

Many other possible choices, like Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, and Graeme McDowell, lost their chances when they joined the LIV league. The other most possible option, Justin Rose, still wants to play on the team instead of being a captain. Francesco Molinari was another good choice, but everyone wanted Donald to stay in charge, more so after leading the team towards a win while coping with a hostile New York crowd.

“The last two Ryder Cups have meant a lot to my family and me,” Donald said after the selection. “I didn’t imagine this third time would come. Celebrating on that Sunday night in New York after a pressure-packed week in a tough environment, I thought maybe my job was done. But maybe there is a little more story to tell.”

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Even Keegan Bradley wasn’t lost in how good a captain Donald is. He called him the best European Ryder Cup captain of all time.

Now, while Europe is ready, Team USA is still searching for its leader. Tiger Woods once again is the top choice to lead, but he isn’t sure. Woods refused last time because he was busy in the boardroom, and it led to Bradley being appointed as the captain. And this time, he also may choose not to take the helm, stating the same reasons. Also, in Ireland, the environment this year would be a challenging environment, given its record of not winning the trophy on European soil since 1993.

“I haven’t made my decision yet,” Woods said about his 2027 Ryder Cup captaincy. “I’m trying to figure out what we’re trying to do with our Tour. That’s been driving me hours upon hours every day, and I’m trying to figure out if I can actually do our team, our Team USA, our players, and everyone that’s going to be involved in the Ryder Cup justice with my time.”

But, as the Associated Press reported last week, the PGA of America has set a soft deadline before the Masters in April for Woods to confirm whether he wants the Ryder Cup captaincy or not. Now, if Woods says no once again, the U.S. side will have to scramble just like last year. And we all know what the consequence was.

Luke Donald’s rise in Ryder Cup history was completely accidental

Donald was never actually meant to be the captain of Team Europe in the first place, and he almost lost out when Europe initially chose Henrik Stenson to lead the 2023 matches outside Rome. But he got his chance when Stenson stripped himself of the role and decided to join LIV Golf. That is when Donald stepped in as an emergency and hasn’t missed a beat since.

Bernard Gallacher was the last captain from Team Europe who served three straight times from 1991 through 1995 and won his last at Oak Hill. While Walter Hagen was the most Ryder Cup-winning captain (four times for the Americans) and Ben Hogan led the U.S. team to three victories, neither of them was in consecutive editions. Plus, all of them occurred in an era of U.S. dominance when Europe was not a part of the Ryder Cup.

And from Europe’s side, Tony Jacklin was the most successful captain, leading the team three times with all wins. But the last one in 1989 was a tie, and Europe retained the Ryder Cup as the defending champion. Donald has a perfect chance to match this record or even do something better as the first to win outright three straight times.

“History is obviously important to me. As a team, as Ryder Cup Europe, we all play for history. We talk about it a lot, about the guys who paved the way for us and the responsibility we have to inspire the next generations. But I don’t think I have ever thought about history through a personal lens. I just try to enjoy the journey and the day-to-day work to create an environment that gives the players the opportunity for success. That is what I focus on,” Donald added.