Henrik Stenson Named Captain of 2023 European Ryder Cup Team

The 45-year-old is the first Swede to serve as captain and will look to continue a 30-year run of dominance for Team Europe on home soil.

Henrik Stenson, a longtime stalwart on European Ryder Cup teams, was named Tuesday as captain for the 2023 matches in Rome, Italy.

Stenson, 45, will be the first Swede to serve as captain. The 2016 British Open winner has played in five previous Ryder Cups, three of them won by Europe, and served as vice captain in the matches won by the United States last year at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.

“The Ryder Cup is golf, and sport, at its very best. I got goosebumps every time I pulled on a European shirt as a player and that will be magnified in the role of captain,” Stenson said in a statement.

“When I started out as a professional golfer, it was beyond my wildest dreams that, one day, I would follow in the footsteps of legends of the game such as Seve [Ballesteros] and be the European Ryder Cup Captain. But today proves that, sometimes, dreams do come true.”

Stenson made his Ryder Cup debut for Europe at the K Club in Ireland in 2006, securing the winning point in an 18.5-9.5 European rout. He also was on winning teams in 2014 at Gleneagles, Scotland, and in 2018 at Le Golf National in France. He was on the losing side in matches played in the U.S. in 2008 and 2016.

Zach Johnson will captain the U.S. team, which will try to win for the first time on European soil since 1993 at The Belfry in England. The 2023 matches will be at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome, Italy, from Sept. 25-Oct. 1, 2023.