European Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington had publicly announced only one of his vice captains for the upcoming matches at Whistling Straits.
At least that was the case until a slip of the tongue Tuesday.
In an interview with Sky Sports, Harrington said that he’d been in constant communication with European Tour leadership and his vice captains, proceeding as though the Ryder Cup, scheduled for Sept. 25-27, will be held as scheduled in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
That’s when Harrington seemed to accidentally mention one of his not-yet-named assistants by name.
Hello, Luke Donald.
Is there something you wanted to tell us, @Padraig_H?! 😉
— Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) May 5, 2020
The Ryder Cup captain accidentally gave the #SkyGolfShow a big clue on who one of his vice-captains will be...🤣🤫 pic.twitter.com/Rd7fbEtmPq
Donald took the slip-up in stride:
I thought this was supposed to be a secret @padraig_h 🤫🤷🏼♂️ https://t.co/kN1z4frQ3q
— Luke Donald (@LukeDonald) May 5, 2020
And Harrington followed with this:
Sorry about that. News was too good to keep under wraps! Welcome to the Team 🇪🇺 @europeantour https://t.co/4q9qnhRoJq
— Padraig Harrington (@padraig_h) May 5, 2020
And, well, about an hour later, it was officially official, straight from the European Ryder Cup team’s Twitter account:
Welcome to the team, Luke! 🇪🇺 pic.twitter.com/qFeuPEFYdV
— Ryder Cup Europe (@RyderCupEurope) May 5, 2020
Much about the Ryder Cup is still unknown – including the crucial questions of whether it’ll be postponed, or played without fans – but Harrington’s crew is starting to come together. Donald was a part of four winning teams and served as one of Thomas Bjorn’s vice captains as the Europeans blew out the U.S. squad in France in 2018. Robert Karlsson, a two-time European Ryder Cupper, is Harrington’s other assistant captain.
