Golf commentary legend rates all 16 European Ryder Cup captains

There have been 16 European Ryder Cup captains, some better than others, but who has impressed the most?

Everyone has their opinions, of course, so we asked a genuine font of all golf knowledge whose Ryder Cup expertise is unsurpassed.

Step forward Ewen Murray, the voice of golf on Sky Sports who you'll be hearing plenty of next week, when Luke Donald takes his European team to Bethpage to attempt the rarest of feats - an away win!

So how does Donald's captaincy rate compared with the likes of Tony Jacklin? 

Let's find out with Ewen ...

John Jacobs (1979, 1981)

John Jacobs was captain when the Ryder Cup began a new era, with GB&I becoming Team Europe.

Unfortunately for John, he was dealt a tough hand. The American team were incredibly strong around that time, and there was also the damaging dispute with Seve Ballesteros in 1981.

That US team at Walton Heath in ’81 was one of the best in history, and there was little John Jacobs could do.

Tony Jacklin (1983, 1985, 1987, 1989)

Tony is, without question, the best Ryder Cup captain in history.

If I could pay the ultimate tribute to him, it would be that he breathed life into what was a dying event.

He didn’t accept any half-measures, he led Europe to back-to-back victories in 1985 and 1987. Winning against Jack Nicklaus, at his own course, was the biggest defining moment of Tony’s captaincy, and his influence on the Ryder Cup is difficult to fully measure.

Without Tony Jacklin, we could be sat here today talking about the Ryder Cup as just another match between Europe and the USA. Instead, we’re talking about one of the biggest sporting occasions in the world.

Bernard Gallagher (1991, 1993, 1995)

I would say Bernard was a good, strong captain to follow Tony Jacklin, and he was a better captain than his record would suggest. Obviously he had three tries at it, and after two tough defeats he got it right at Oak Hill in 1995.

I thought he was unlucky for the first two. Maybe he did a few things wrong, but 1991 came down to the final putt of the contest, and Bernhard Langer couldn’t get it to drop.

And in 1993, Europe led going into the singles but too many of Gallacher’s stronger players just didn’t perform on Sunday.

But ’95 was memorable. All my pals that I played a lot of tournament golf with were in that team. And Nick Faldo’s up-and-down against Curtis Strange was one of the best pars in Ryder Cup history.

Bernard spoke very well afterwards, put a comforting arm around an emotional US captain Lanny Watkins, and that was - to me - what the Ryder Cup is all about.

Seve Ballesteros (1997)

I think Seve's buggy went on Autotrader after Valderrama, advertised as just a week old but with very high mileage and maybe one not-so-careful owner!

He was everywhere, and his presence was unwelcome at times. Seve tried offering advice to Monty on the 17th, and I can’t repeat what Monty said to him. It was along the lines of “please go away”!

But Seve put his heart and soul into the job, and his personality and character was stamped all over Valderrama.

He was maybe not the best captain, but he was probably the most inspirational.

Mark James (1999)

Brookline in 1999 was one of the most infamous Ryder Cups for obvious reasons, so it’s tricky to fully assess Mark James as captain.

I think he did a good job in the circumstances, but I couldn’t figure out why he picked Andrew Coltart as a wildcard and then left him out until Sunday’s singles.

He did the same with Jean van de Velde and Jarmo Sandelin, but they had qualified for the team outright and then found themselves struggling for form going into the Ryder Cup.

But to pick Andrew and then not play him? That was strange, but it was, arguably, the only big mistake Mark made that week. I can see Mark's side of it, but I can also feel for the three that only played a few holes.

Sam Torrance (2002)

I said earlier that Tony Jacklin breathed new life into the Ryder Cup, and Sam Torrance revived it in many ways.

After all the furore at Brookline, and then the event being delayed a year by the 9/11 attacks, I think Sam's meeting with Curtis Strange before the Ryder Cup in 2002 was very important.

Sam, being a traditionalist, Curtis Strange, being a traditionalist, got together and set about getting the friendship back while maintaining the fierce competitiveness. And I think they did that beautifully between them.

So rather than speak about Sam as a sole captain, I think Curtis had a lot to do with the success and then being able to forget 99 and move on. There was a three-year gap, so they had the time to do it, but they also had the sense and the inclination to say that we need to change it and get it back to the way it was. And they did.

Bernhard Langer (2004)

Bernhard had a combination of calmness, determination, and fire. And the fire you never saw. The determination you maybe saw, of course, but the calmness you definitely saw.

Langer’s charm offensive worked like a charm, quelling any possibility of a repeat of Brookline.

He sent a team out there that believed they could win, and they did that emphatically. It was a record win on away soil, so that takes some doing.

Ian Woosnam (2006)

I had quite a lot to do with the ’06 Ryder Cup because of my association with Darren Clarke, and the difficult time he was having then. And Woosie gave him a pick and told him he wanted him on the team because he was a great player.

And that was Woosnam, he just had total belief in everyone on his team. I think the way he handled Darren and Lee Westwood was tremendous, and that was the cornerstone of that victory.

I know every single one of Woosnam’s team were thrilled to have him alongside, and that makes him a great captain.

Sir Nick Faldo (2008)

I think looking at the defeat in 2008, you had a captain who has been blinkered in his career. He did everything that he believed would make him the very best player.

To Nick Faldo's credit, that's exactly what he did. But sometimes these individuals don't go together as part of a team. And if you look at the best players that week, they didn't really perform as Nick would probably expect them to.

If you're losing captain, everyone questions whether you’re a good captain. I don't think Nick really did anything wrong, but I think he found it difficult to be that 100% individual and then in charge of the team.

Colin Montgomerie (2010)

I think Monty did a good job in a difficult week. All of a sudden, the Ryder Cup became four days instead of three because of the awful weather at Celtic Manor.

They had to rejig the format and, at one point, they had six matches out on the course at the same time. The strategy worked well for Europe, but I don’t know how much Monty had to do with that.

So, he had a different Ryder Cup to do, and his task was a lot different to other captains because of all the disruption, but Graeme McDowell came through for him at the end.

Jose Maria Olazabal (2012)

There were a lot of miracles at Medinah, and one of them was Rory McIlroy getting to the 1st tee on time on Sunday!

But in terms of Olly’s captaincy, he tap into that spirit of Seve Ballesteros, and that spirit, no doubt, carried them on the final day.

I think Davis Love III made a big mistake when he rested Keegan Bradley and Phil Mickelson, but I guess the European team talk on Saturday night was the right one. That gave them a lift as well because they had to continue from where they left off on Saturday.

And they did. And, of course, Olazabal would have to prepare them to do that.

Paul McGinley (2014)

Paul changed the way a captain works in the Ryder Cup, and that goes for both European and American captains.

He went down the numbers route, the statistical route, and McGinley spent hours, days, months, maybe years, putting together what he put together in 2014.

And since then, the captaincy has been a different job because of the work and research that he did.

And, obviously, the time and effort in the preparation paid off at Gleneagles. I doubt if any captain has ever put in so much effort like that, and he did an outstanding job to retain the trophy.

Darren Clarke (2016)

I thought Darren was a bit unlucky at Hazeltine. He was furious with that infamous article by Danny Willett’s brother, and he then had to change his team for day one overnight.

Darren was ready to captain that team. He was buoyant, and he prepared well.

They lost all four matches on Friday morning, but with nine holes to go on Sunday, Europe actually still had a chance of winning. Yes, it fell away, but it really was a lot closer than the final score suggested.

But I know Darren put his heart and soul into that and he was very proud of it. It was a week that just didn't work out.

Thomas Bjorn (2018)

His strength, perhaps, was the backroom team he picked for Paris and the way they all worked together. They got the course set-up perfect for the European players, and Thomas Bjorn he had the benefit of his players knowing Le Golf National so well.

But I think he did an exceptional job, and that was a great team. You look at Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood and the way they performed, that was stuff sent from heaven.

They were the heartbeat of that team, but I thought the captain's backroom team was a huge strength there.

Padraig Harrington (2021)

Padraig was dealt a really tough hand, because of the timing of the 2021 Ryder Cup and everything going on in the world at that time. In my opinion, it should never have been played.

It shows you how important the spectators are in the Ryder Cup as much as the players. There really wasn't an atmosphere there of Europe against America, it was America against whoever was there that week.

There was no real support for the European side, so I think it's difficult to assess Padraig’s captaincy. Given the way the world was that year, it could be classed as an exceptional captaincy because of the difficulties.

Luke Donald (2023, 2025)

I think the calmness and the authority that Luke showed in Rome was something we have seen only on a few occasions. Only Bernard Langer, perhaps, was on the same level as Luke in that regard.

Should he go ahead and win at Bethpage, I’d probably regard him as one of the best captains of all time, close to Tony Jacklin.

Luke will send out a fully-prepared and confident team, even though it's in New York and away matches are so difficult to win

I think every one of these players will stand on the 1st tee believing they have the ability to go ahead and get the job done, and much of that belief will be installed by Luke Donald.