Exclusive:Ryder Cup Europe chief opens up on Bethpage Black and Luke Donald position for 2027

In an exclusive interview with The Scotsman, Kinnings also spoke about the possibility of Donald, who has led Europe to back-to-back victories over the Americans, staying on as captain for a third successive match when the 2027 contest takes place at Adare Manor in Ireland.

Rory McIlroy, in particular, was the target of some dreadful abuse from home fans at Bethpage Black, where his wife, Erica, was almost hit on the head by a beer cup during one of the sessions. The behaviour led eight-time major Tom Watson to say he felt “ashamed” and apologised in a post on social media for what he felt had been “rude and mean-spirited” actions by US fans.

Speaking in Mallorca during the HotelPlanner Tour’s Rolex Grand Final supported by The R&A, Kinnings said: “It is time for us to move on from Bethpage Black and, as we have always known since announcing Adare Manor, we are going to a great place in 2027. But there are lessons to be learned from this match and no-one should forget how the players handled that was amazing.

“That will forever be to their credit. How they dealt with that and performed at the level they did was absolutely astonishing. And the most important thing for us to remember about this Ryder Cup is that Europe won and Europe did an unbelievable job.”

Making the Ryder Cup even bigger and better at Adare Manor in County Limerick will be a central part of Ryder Cup Europe’s debrief from this year’s contest.

“We co-own the greatest asset in golf and one of the greatest assets in sport,” said Kinnings. “The Ryder Cup is wonderful and we want it to be as good as it can possibly be. You know the teams will compete as hard as they can inside the ropes and it is our job to work as effectively as we can outside the ropes with the PGA of America.”

Another important part of that debrief will be appointing the European captain for the contest in Ireland in two years’ time, when the Ryder Cup celebrates its centenary edition.

Donald emulated Tony Jacklin by winning as a captain both home and away in the biennial contest. Bernard Gallacher was the last person to do three matches in a row, but, judging by his comments in the immediate aftermath of the Bethpage Black win, it seems that Donald could be tempted to have a crack at an unprecedented hat-trick.

“What Luke has achieved as the Ryder Cup captain is astonishing,” acknowledged Kinnings, who will lead the process for the appointment of the 2027 captain. “I’ve known him since he was an amateur and it has been great to see him grow into this role. He’s a truly brilliant leader, he really is. Yes, Tony Jacklin won home and away but, for Luke to have won back-to-back like that when it was meant to be really hard in Rome and almost impossible in New York was absolutely brilliant.

‘I don’t want to be tied to a timeframe’

“He and Diane (Donald’s wife) deserve the time to go away and decompress and enjoy the success and we have to take the time to completely debrief, have a look at everything, learn from it, learn on every aspect. We are going to be trying to improve for the next one and, on the captaincy, as we always do, it is a case of listening to players, the captain, vice captains, past captains, a group of stakeholders - all of them. But you want to give people the time to let it sink in and reflect and take that time and that’s exactly what I have said to Luke too - enjoy an amazing thing.

“I don’t want to be tied to a timeframe. We are not going to be rushed into it. It is important to get it right. So, whether it’s later in the year or in the new year that we make an announcement, we’ll just wait and see.”

After being inside the ropes at this year’s Ryder Cup looking after some of the event’s sponsors, Englishman James Morrison pulled off an incredible win in the Rolex Grand Final supported by The R&A in Mallorca, where he thought he could be playing in his last-ever event but is now heading back to the DP World Tour after regaining his card.

“It is a great story,” said Kinnings, who took huge delight in presenting Morrison with the winner’s trophy, of the 40-year-old reigniting his career with his 13-year-old son Finley caddying for him. “It’s the fact he’s played so long and has been a big character. He’s dug deep and for him to be there with his boy was just fantastic.”

Platform to play for ‘hundreds of millions of dollars’

Eleven of the 20 players to secure DP World Tour cards 12 months ago through the HotelPlanner Tour have retained them for next season and eight are currently in the top 50 in this year’s Race to Dubai. “That’s why I think the HotelPlanner Tour is singly the best route to get a DP World Tour card,” declared Kinnings.

“We build all these pathways around the world and you want to fast-track the amateurs as they are so good so young. But the HotelPlanner Tour, I think, helps people to go out and not just complete but go and win. I always say to them that ‘you are one year away from potentially getting a card to play in the FedEx Cup and getting to play for hundreds of millions of dollars’.”