When you are attracting high praise from someone like Sir Clive Woodward, you must be doing something right.
European hero Luke Donald can now claim to be the continent’s best-ever Ryder Cup captain after leading his side to consecutive wins in the event, both home and away. Europe won in the States last month for the first time since the Miracle of Medinah in 2012, after a nail-biting Sunday singles session.
Donald is a hugely popular and impressive figure, which is why Team Europe kept him in the hot seat for the 2025 Ryder Cup after his victory as captain in Rome two years before. Now, we wait to see if he will have a third tenure in 2027.
Woodward, who coached England to their only Rugby World Cup win in 2003, is a keen player and watcher of golf, and was full of admiration and praise for Donald and his captaincy when speaking on the NCG Golf Podcast.
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“First of all, the Ryder Cup, in simple terms, is those 12 people, like in a rugby team, there are 15 people. But behind the scenes, it’s a big organisation. You start to add in caddies, you start to add in all of your medical team, your analysis teams,” Woodward said.
“It’s a big team of people. It’s not as simple as 12 people, you’re a whole team. It’s a business, running the Ryder Cup team, which Luke did and is still doing. I hope he carries on for two more years. He’s done a fantastic job, but it’s running a business.
“As I said, there’s no difference between doing that and running your business or any other business, or running a rugby team. I’m often asked: Is it a player or a coach? (The most important person)
“Initially, I struggled with that, but I was in a conference and Arsene Wenger got asked that question. He answered brilliantly.
“He just said, ‘Categorically, it’s both. I can’t win with Arsenal unless I’ve got great players. I also know they can’t win without a great coach’. You need both. And the Ryder Cup team, when he announced the team, I thought we were going to hammer the USA, because I thought, ‘Wow’. That team has got an amazing head coach who’s been there and done it, and got the T-shirt as a player and a coach.
“But also just that team, they’ve all won in Rome, with one new person coming in, and he’s just done an amazing job. I think out of the two teams, he was the difference. I think he was a step above Keegan Bradley, I really do think he was in every way.
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Woodward played for England before he became the country’s rugby union coach in 1997 and masterminded their World Cup win in 2003. Jonny Wilkinson’s drop goal in the dying moments against Australia is one of the most memorable, and certainly replayed moments in the nation’s sports history.
Among many aspects of coaching and leading a group of stars that Woodward has perfected, one of them was winning the biggest prize on away turf, which is exactly what his England side inflicted on the Wallabies at Stadium Australia in Sydney over 20 years ago.
There were many doubts as to whether Europe could win the Ryder Cup in America in the type of hostile conditions that Bethpage Black on Long Island promised, but more to the point, whether winning an away Ryder Cup was becoming more and more unattainable for both teams.
Europe have cracked this code, and Woodward believes Donald did it with the same leadership strategy as his own: 100 things, 1% better.
Clive Woodward: Luke Donald did a fantastic job
“I have this saying, and I’ll bring in a guy called Sir Dave Brailsford, who you will have heard of from the cycling world,” Woodward added. “I first met Dave through the Olympics (Woodward became director of elite performance for the British Olympic Association in 2006).
“I went up to see him when I first got the Olympic job, and I sat down and went through all the stuff with him about how I work.
“I call it ‘100 things, 1% better’. The reason that I was successful as a rugby coach was because of all the small things, all the detail. We didn’t win the World Cup because it’s just one of those. We won it because there’s 100 of them. They all add up, and they all come together.
“I remember he rang me about two weeks later. He said, ‘I was thinking about your 100 things, 1% better, I think it’s brilliant. I get it, but I can’t use that – that’s yours. I’ve come up with a new term’.
“’Marginal gains’, and I’ve gone, ‘That’ll never catch on’. Dave Brailsford understood this. Marginal gains is 100 things, 1% better. And the nearest person I’ve seen to really understanding it is Luke Donald.”
In the European team’s press conference at Bethpage after winning the Ryder Cup, Donald revealed the detail that he and his team focused on to make his players feel as comfortable and as ready to perform as possible.
They covered cracks in the doors in the players’ hotel rooms and changed the bed sheets to help with their sleep, and they changed the shampoo for a nicer smell.
As insignificant as these things might sound, Woodward sympathised with Donald’s approach.
“The detail in the Ryder Cup team has been astonishing. That’s why you get over the line. So despite the fact of them having a really pretty scary Sunday, they got over the line.
“That’s all it’s about, that level that Brailsford is working at, and me with England, Luke with the Ryder Cup. All you’re worried about is that you’ve got to get over the line in first position.
“Doesn’t matter what the score is, and I think Luke did it because of marginal gains, 100 things, 1% better. He’s applied that to golf with a brilliant effect. And also, the players love it. You can see the affection they’ve got for him is huge.
“When you hear Shane Lowry speaking about him, it’s just hairs on the back of your neck, really. Luke’s done a fantastic job.”
On this NCG Golf Podcast episode, Tom Irwin and Sir Clive Woodward also talk about his golf venture, Stryve. Stryve’s three-stage process helps you understand the basics of every shot. Each stage is packed with expert insights and coaching points, delivering the knowledge you need to help refine your technique, increase consistency, and sharpen your golfing IQ.
Stryve is available for download on the App Store now! CLICK HERE to sign up
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