Staff WriterJosé María Olazábal hasn’t so much stepped back into Ryder Cup duty as marched in wearing the same fire-in-the-belly smile that lit up Medinah in 2012.
The Spaniard, who already answers to “miracle worker” in several languages, will reprise his role as Vice-Captain when Luke Donald’s European side heads for Bethpage Black, New York, 26-28 September 2025.
A medal chest of Ryder Cup know-how
Ask any European golf fan to picture the event’s greatest escape act and watch their eyes dart straight to Olazábal’s comeback over the scarlet-and-white sea of Medinah.
The 59-year-old remains the last European captain to win on U.S. soil—a nugget Donald was never likely to overlook when filling his strategic foxholes.
“It is wonderful news. When Luke approached me and asked me about the possibility of being a Vice Captain again, I have to be honest, I thought about it for a while because, you know, being in New York, it’s not going to be easy. But the Ryder Cup is very close to my heart. I have wonderful memories about this event so I said yes.”
This will be Olazábal’s fifth vice-captaincy (2008, 2010, 2014, 2023, and now 2025) and his eighth spin around the Ryder Cup carousel if you count seven appearances as a player.
Those outings returned 20½ points, 18 match wins and one immortal partnership with the late Seve Ballesteros—twelve points from fifteen starts, still the gold standard for twosomes.
Donald doubles down on passion and poise
Luke Donald, ever the details man, made it clear he wanted experience and steel on his shoulder this time.
After recruiting Denmark’s Thomas Bjørn and Italy’s Edoardo Molinari, he went shopping for pure blue-and-gold blood and found it beating under Olazábal’s green jackets—two of them, courtesy of Augusta in 1994 and 1999.
“I am delighted to welcome José María back to the Vice Captain role. He is synonymous with European golf and the Ryder Cup and everything it represents. So to have him back as part of my backroom team is incredibly positive for us.
“He bleeds blue and gold like nobody else. His passion for the Ryder Cup is second to none. He is just an inspiration to so many players, which made such a difference in Rome.
“It’s also extremely important for us to know we have the last Captain to have won on foreign soil on our side.
I was part of that team as a player and got to witness his never-give-up attitude and the inspiration he drew from Seve that week.
There might be some tough times in New York when we all need that experience, that passion and that mentality.”
Bethpage Black: where angels fear to three-putt
Bethpage’s beastly Black Course has the subtlety of a Brooklyn traffic jam and the locals to match. When New Yorkers shout “You da man!” they usually add a string of creative modifiers. Olazábal knows exactly what Team Europe is signing up for:
“I think there is not any bigger challenge for a golfer than facing a Ryder Cup away from home and we have to be mentally prepared for that.
“It’s really hard to win away from home in the United States. In New York, we know the crowds are going to be very loud and the golf course will be set up in favour of the US team—we’ll have to handle that, too.”
If anyone can shepherd rookies through the gantlet, it’s a man who once coached a room full of jittery Europeans into crippling silence at Medinah—and then turned it into a symphony of roars.
Why Olazábal still matters in 2025
- Seven Ryder Cups played
- Five stints as Vice-Captain (including 2025)
- Two Masters victories
- 33 professional wins worldwide
- Hall of Fame inductee (2009)
Those numbers translate into gravitas—a currency that spends well when the crowd is hostile and fairways feel narrower than a Negroni straw.
Just ask Rory McIlroy, who absorbed Olazábal’s pep talks in Rome and promptly sang them from the rooftops after Europe’s 16½–11½ triumph.
Europe will need every decibel of that wisdom in New York, where the galleries treat away teams like visiting relatives who’ve overstayed their welcome.
Donald’s decision to bring Olazábal back isn’t nostalgia; it’s noise-cancelling headphones.
Final thoughts
José María Olazábal’s return gives Europe more than a talisman—it hands the squad a living, breathing reminder that miracles are possible, even on foreign ground.
September may still be months away, but across the Atlantic the fuse is already smouldering. And if you listen closely, you can almost hear Bethpage growl.
