(Reuters) – Team Europe captain Henrik Stenson named Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn as his first vice-captain on Wednesday for next year’s Ryder Cup which will be played in Rome.
Bjorn has represented Europe three times as a player, four times as a vice-captain and captained the team to victory in the 2018 edition in Paris.
“I have known Thomas for my whole career. I trust him implicitly and I know any advice he will give me will be honest and direct,” said Stenson, who was named captain last month.
“He will not simply tell me what he thinks I want to hear and that will be important, so I’m delighted to have him as my first vice-captain for Rome.”
Bjorn was the first Dane to represent Europe in the biennial competition in 1997. In 2018, Stenson was one of Bjorn’s 12 players in their 17 1/2–10 1/2 victory over the United States.
“I’m delighted to be part of the whole Ryder Cup experience once again. I probably thought that after 2018 that was it for me,” Bjorn said.
“But Henrik called me to talk about captaincy in general and that led into him asking me if I wanted to do another stint as vice-captain, which I agreed to. I’m excited to work with him.”
The United States won the last Ryder Cup in Wisconsin last year. Europe have not lost a Ryder Cup on home soil since a 15-13 defeat at The Belfry in 1993.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Martyn Herman)
