Golf
Exclusive: Justin Rose Will Be an Outstanding Ryder Cup Captain - Just Not Yet, says Jamie Donaldson
Former Ryder Cup winner Jamie Donaldson believes Justin Rose will make an outstanding captain when the time is right. Despite being 46, Rose may still play in the next two Ryder Cups before taking on the leadership role. Donaldson praises Rose's exceptional playing ability and predicts he will excel as a captain when he decides to take on the role.
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Justin Rose will be in no rush to be Ryder Cup captain, but will be an outstanding leader when he does take role, says his 2014 team-mate Jamie Donaldson.
Rose will turn 46 this year (2026) but, speaking exclusively to SportsBoom, Donaldson does not believe he will be a contender to captain Europe in next year’s Ryder Cup.
Instead, Donaldson, who earned the winning point for Europe at Gleneagles in 2014, thinks the Englishman might well play in the next two Ryder Cups.
“He will get it one day, of course he will, he has been one of Europe’s great players in recent times,” Donaldson told SportsBoom.com.
“But I don't think he wants to do it yet. You might even see him being beyond 50 before he does it."
“He's still got a lot of golf to play, and I think he just looks at it from a playing perspective and just can't get enough of it."
SHOCKER
“So I think there'll be a little bit of time before he takes it on, unless he has a shocker of a season one year and goes, OK, I'll do it."
“Even then, though, if he does have a season that isn’t great, I would expect him to be more likely to be ready to want to go again the next year and get back up to where he was."
“That’s the sort of mentality and attitude he has. That’s why he has won one Major and came close to winning at least one more.”
Donaldson and Rose played on the 2014 team together, and at that point it could easily have been the start of the twilight of the 2013 US Open champion’s career.
But he has played in four of the five Ryder Cups since then, and shone for Europe as the trophy was retained at Bethpage (Black) last September.
At the 2023 Ryder Cup, Rose was ranked number 36 in the world, and in his mid-40s, only two years younger than Europe’s captain Luke Donald.
But last year he showed his enduring class, finished runner-up at The Open, losing a play-off to Rory McIlroy in the Masters and moving up to 14th in the world ranking after winning the St Jude Championship.
Donaldson has also thrown his support behind Luke Donald staying as Europe’s captain for 2027, praising his calm leadership and team-building skills.
EXCEPTIONAL
Donaldson believes the exceptional player will become an exceptional captain.
“His record shows what a good player he has been. His golf in that Saturday fourball match at the last Ryder Cup was sensational,” added Donaldson.
“He made so many birdies and blew Bryson DeChambeau and Scottie Scheffler away. He was the leading point scorer in Gleneagles to remember."
“He just looks like, to me, a guy who, no matter what he does, will put everything into it and excel at it."
“But he won’t think he knows it all. He will do what Donald's done and really try and get different people's input and expertise to give the players the best chance to win."
“That’s what a captain’s job is and he will be a very good one. When he decides he wants to do it," he concluded.
Neil has been a journalist for longer than he'd care to remember, having written for national newspapers and respected publications for over 25 years. For the last three years he has worked freelance for BBC Sport, working on the production desk as a sub-editor and also as a writer, covering a whole range of sports.