FARMINGDALE, N.Y. There is no question who the majority of fans are pulling for this week at Bethpage Black. Its a home game for the Americans, and theyll be getting most of the love at the 2025 Ryder Cup. But this can also be a true statement: Europe has a host of likeable lads playing for Luke Donald. From Tommy Fleetwood to Viktor Hovland, from Bob MacIntyre to Ludvig Aberg, the Europeans are beloved on their continent and beyond. Count Rory McIlroy, and Jon Rahm among those as well.
One of the reasons they are so loved is the teams 14th man. No, not the 13th man, that will always remain the loyal yellow and blue army of witty-singing fans from across the pond. Its this 14th manor group reallythat has become an integral part of making those lads likeable, a behind-the-scenes squad that Donald has come to rely on to help inspire his players amid the tall task of winning a Ryder Cup on the road.
Introducing the content team behind Ryder Cup Europe.
I caught up with Tom Jackson (center above) this week, Head of Ryder Cup Productions, at Bethpage to understand more about the content he and his team produce, how its done and why its become such a vital part of motivational strategy for the Europeans.
This week is so important to us, Jackson said. Obviously, we only get this chance once every two years, so everything we do builds to this week.
The team is led by a handful of producers at Ryder Cup Productions but the workforce grows to more than 50 during Ryder Cup week itself. The team will produce content for the players, for Team Europes social media channels, documentaries, an official film and branded content for partners and sponsors.
Getting images of European players hanging loose and having fun is a key part of what the Ryder Cup Europe social team is trying to do.
Jared C. Tilton
According to Jackson, it all back in 2014 with Paul McGinley captaining the Europeans at Gleneagles. He asked us to produce some videos to show the players in the team room and it went from there.
Those videos, a mixture of humor and motivation, landed very well with Captain McGinley and his players. Jackson said they havent looked back since.
Every captain is different and has a slightly different story they want to bring to their captaincy, Jackson said. As soon as they are announced as captain, we sit down with them and begin fleshing out what their vision is for the next two years, what themes are important to him and how he feels he can best motivate the players and inspire the fans.
Each is unique in how they want to lead and inspire the team, as well as the supporters. And that is represented in what we produce.
In 2018 in France, under the captaincy of Thomas Bjorn, the crew produced a motivational video that was shown to the team on Wednesday night of Ryder Cup week. The video featured former European captains Brian Huggett, Sam Torrance and Jose Maria Olazabal. Again, it resonated with the team and following their success at Le Golf National, Bjorn agreed that it could be shared with the fans.
We saw the impact that video had on the team and the fans and knew we were onto to something, said Jackson as he showed me the video on his phone.
On Tuesday of this week, they released their 2025 version. Under the leadership of Donald, they created a piece titled Our Time, Our Place built around the theme of European success on U.S. soil and featuring nearly all of the 37 European players who have successful won an away Ryder Cup.
It took us about a year to produce, honestly, Jackson said proudly.
The idea started with Luke pretty soon after Rome, when he accepted the captaincy again for New York. He didnt want to do things the same way, he knew captaining an away Ryder Cup would be a completely different monster to a home one. From the first meeting, he wanted the theme of 2025 to be about joining the legends of European golf that have won in the U.S.
Thus, Our Time, Our Place became the motto and we went to work.
For Jackson and his team, the goal was to speak to every one of European players who won in the U.S. that they could. Two have passed away (Seve Ballesteros and Gordon Brown) but ultimately over the course of a year, 34 former players spoke to the production team and were included in the video.
Needless to say, the video landed well, both inside the European Team Room, who viewed the video ahead of its public release, and outside with golf fans across the world.
More importantly, the theme and motto became key to everything Donald did behind the scenes to give his team a chance to win at Bethpage. Check out this video about how the motto drove the way Europe set up its back room this week.
Beyond their marquee pieces, such as the Donald video this year or Bjorns ex-captain piece, the team is constantly with the players and back-room staff, producing and publishing content in order to give fans a glimpse at what makes Team Europe so special.
Luke Donald started working on this motto for his 2025 team for almost two years, shortly after being picked to captain again.
Just this week, weve seen players discussing Viktor Hovlands obsession with UFOs, McIlroy and Shane Lowry playing darts, Matt Fitzpatrick on his gaming, an inside look at range sessions, team room reactions to pairings and more than even Jackson is aware of.
Its a huge operation. One of the key reasons it all works so well is the consistency of our team. Our team works on the DP World Tour and see the players week in and week out. Theres a trust there that cant just be built one week every two years.
This is a key aspect of the European team. Unlike the American team that is organized and hosted by the PGA of America, the European team represent the DP World Tour and with that comes the familiar faces of Jacksons team.
Richard Heathcote
Where the U.S. players may only see PGA of America personnel at the PGA Championship or Ryder Cup, the European crew see most of the top name players on their team 10 to 15 times each year.
It makes such a difference. It allows us to get closer to the players and their teams. Honestly, we view ourselves as part of Team Europe and not just a content team covering them.
And the content shows. Its impossible to quantify what impact it has on the golf course during each Ryder Cup, but ask the fans or any of the players in the European team room, and youll find theres many that believe it gives them an edge.
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