2016 Ryder Cup consisting of the last three Ryder Cup captains: Paul McGinley, José María Olazábal, Colin Montgomerie, another ex-Ryder Cup player David Howell and the European Tour chief executive George O'Grady. Davis Love III was named the United States captain on February 24, 2015. He had previously captained the 2012 team. Each captain selects a number of vice-captains to assist him during the tournament. Clarke selected Thomas Bjørn, Pádraig Harrington, and Paul Lawrie as European team vice-captains in May 2016. He added Ian Poulter in June and Sam Torrance in July. Tom Lehman was named as a United States vice-captain at the
2014 Ryder Cup the fourth to take a 5–3 lead in the Ryder Cup. It was the first time since 2006 that Europe led after the first day of the competition. Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson, who won 5 & 4 in their morning match, played again and won; they never trailed at any point during the day. Gene Wojciechowski, a columnist for ESPN, criticized American captain Tom Watson for not playing Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed in the afternoon after they had won their morning match 5 & 4. The European pairing of Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson led off and won