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At the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage, Luke Donald will aim to oversee just the fifth victory by a European team on U.S. soil.
No team has won an away Ryder Cup since the “Miracle at Medinah” in 2012, which followed on from prior success for Team Europe on the road in 1987, 1995 and 2004.
Here, as part of a series focusing on European successes in the U.S., David Howell recalls his memories of playing on the winning side as a rookie at Oakland Hills in 2004 and gives his thoughts of the challenge facing Donald’s team at Bethpage.
For a European golfer, making a Ryder Cup team is the realisation of a career ambition and yet for David Howell it threatened to turn into a nightmare.
Despite a consistent campaign that featured seven top tens, the Englishman came into the 2004 Ryder Cup feeling uneasy about his game.
While he had secured his rookie appearance by right, three weeks passed without a competitive outing.
“Like many a rookie, I guess all of a sudden some self-doubt and apprehension was creeping in, alongside some excitement,” said Howell, who is the leading record appearance maker on the DP World Tour with 726 starts.
On arrival in California, Howell simply struggled for confidence in his game in practice.
With the challenge of facing the best American golfers in match play, it was a disaster scenario.
So much so that he was frantically tyring to find solutions with his coach, Clive Tucker, in the hour before the Opening Ceremony at Oakland Hills.
“My practice was absolutely horrific,” he said.
“It would appear I completely lost my game. By the time Thursday lunchtime came, I was in all sorts of trouble. My swing had got short and tight, which I'm sure is just tension, isn't it?
“Obviously you're playing in front of 40,000 people in the practice days. The Ryder Cup is a shock to the system. It's amazing. You're surrounded by all these great players. It is no doubt intimidating.
“You’d love to be ripping it down the middle [in practice] so that the confidence is building, but for me it was the opposite.”
A last-minute practice session on the eve of the Ryder Cup resulted in Howell fundamentally changing his swing, with a new swing thought.
What Howell describes as a “massive gamble” proved to be a success.
After a stunning first day, Europe led 6½-1½ but at one point were down in three of the four-ball matches and all-square in the other one. One of five rookies in Bernhard Langer’s team, Howell made his debut alongside fellow first-timer Paul Casey in Saturday’s morning session.
BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI - SEPTEMBER 18: Euroepan Team players Paul Casey and David Howell celebrate after their victory over Jim Furyk and Chad Campbell of the USA during the morning four-ball matches at the 35th Ryder Cup Matches at the Oakland Hills Country Club on September, 18 2004 in Bloomfield Township, Michigan. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)However, after Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia secured a half point, English duo Howell and Casey defied expectations to battle back from one down with two to play and claim what was widely described as a “massive” win for the Europeans against Jim Furyk and Chad Campbell as they opened up an 8-4 lead going into the afternoon foursomes.
And yet, it was a partnership that came somewhat as a surprise to Howell, with the European team advised in advance that rookies would be paired up with an experienced player.
It was through a discussion with then Vice Captain Thomas Bjørn late on Friday evening that Howell learned there had been a change in plan, and he had been paired with Casey, the 2000 English Amateur winner.
“My genuine internal thought was that I’d be told who I was following,” he said of the discussion with Bjørn.
“I didn’t think I was going to play [outside of the Singles] if I am honest, I was in such poor form in practice.”
But play he did, with Howell and Casey proving they were no slouches.
Recalling the discussion he had with Casey on the first tee where he opted to hit the first tee shot, Howell said: “The way I see this is we should just have a great time. We might only do this once in our entire life. I'll go first because I'm oldest - that was my rationale.
“Let's play with freedom, let's have a great time. Let's laugh, joke and smile. I could only see that helping us as we go round.
“And while I did hit a great six iron to the 17th for what I think was my fifth birdie of the day, what I brought to the team was almost that moment of captaincy on the first tee to set our tone for the day.”
BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI - SEPTEMBER 19: European team player David Howell of England celebrates on the 18th after an 18 1/2 to 9 1/2 victory over the USA team during the Sunday singles match at the 35th Ryder Cup Matches at the Oakland Hills Country Club on September 19, 2004 in Bloomfield Township, Michigan.. (Photo by Donald Miralle/Getty Images)Howell, who also played in the winning European team at The K Club in 2006 under Ian Woosnam, added: “Bernhard was a great Captain but putting an arm around the shoulder wasn’t the vibe in those days, which was fine for me.”
While Howell, who won his maiden DP World Tour title at the Dubai Desert Classic in 1999, had experience of team competition as a professional through the Seve Trophy, concedes the Ryder Cup is a different ball game.
“Most players, unless you’re very, very top level, you don't get to play a lot of professional team golf obviously and it is amazing. It's it, it's got different pressures, different excitements. The camaraderie is amazing.
“It's a wonderful experience and I had that with the Seve Trophy. The Ryder Cup is obviously that times ten.
“I had a really, really strong vision about five years before that of what I wanted to achieve out of anything with my career on the DP World Tour, while enjoying the journey, is playing in a winning Ryder Cup side and I wanted to contribute.
“To not bring home any points but be on a winning side was not going to feel the same, I was very acutely aware of that.”
BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI - SEPTEMBER 19: The European Team players left to right Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Paul Casey, Luke Donald and David Howell of England celebrate after winning the Ryder Cup Cup 18 1/2 to 9 1/2 at the 35th Ryder Cup Matches at the Oakland Hills Country Club on September, 19 2004 in Bloomfield Township, Michigan. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)With much discussion around the upcoming Ryder Cup at Bethpage centring around the potential influence of the famously raucous New York crowds, Howell is anticipating Captain Luke Donald will adopt a policy of trying to encourage his team to interact with the crowds – something Langer did at Oakland Hills in 2004.
“After the practice rounds, we signed every single autograph, more so because the Americans had a no autograph policy that year,” Howell recalled.
“So, we really turned it up with the crowd which was great. The crowds that were there on the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were on our side.
“The one thing Bernard had forgotten was that most people either had practise day tickets or match day tickets.
“The crowd switched completely on the Friday to the people with the big boys tickets and the atmosphere was slightly different, but I think we came across well and that was a good strategy.
“I'd be amazed if Luke didn’t do the same. Every bit of goodwill that you can get is what you want.
“I had an amazing moment on the 11th green [during the four-ball match]. They were having a really good morning and from a distance you could hear the chants of ‘USA, USA’ from the three different stands around the 11th green and the 12th tee.
“That again was hair on the back of the neck. It was like a playing golf with a football crowd, otherworldly and amazing.
“As incredible as the atmosphere is and it could be seen as daunting if you're the away team, I can imagine it easily being just as intimidating for the home team if you're not performing as well as you would like.”
With Europe the last away team to win a Ryder Cup since the Miracle at Medinah in 2012, the size of the challenge can’t be underestimated.
But Europe will have their least changed team in Ryder Cup history for this month's contest with just one change to the side that beat the United States in 2023.
Rory McIlroy has completed the career Grand Slam since that victory in Rome, while Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood both won FedEx Cup play-off events last month and Robert McIntyre was second in another, so confidence in the travelling team is likely to high.
“I know our team have been definitely prepared as best they can to expect very difficult crowd circumstances,” said Howell. “So, we'll be prepared no matter how intimidating it is.
“People talk about the percentage chance of an away team winning. But if you if you just look at the European side’s chances of winning away from home, it's actually much closer to 50% over the last ten or so matches.
“So, I think we've got a great chance to go and do something special again and I fully expect us to do so.”
