In January, signs were pointing toward Luke Donald becoming the next European Ryder Cup captain, but things took a sharp turn to the Englishman's disappointment.
Team Europe's last captain, Padraig Harrington, endorsed Donald to captain the ship in Italy next year when Lee Westwood removed his name from consideration. Donald, a vice-captain for Europe in last year's Ryder Cup, was "humbled" by Harrington's comments.
Donald said he made a half-hour captain's pitch to Darren Clarke, Thomas Bjorn and Padraig Harrington, the last three European Ryder Cup captains, along with chairman of the DP World Tour tournament committee, David Howell, and DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley.