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
Ryder Cup from "Great Britain" to "Great Britain and Ireland", but this was simply a change of name to reflect the fact that golfers from the Republic of Ireland had been playing in the Great Britain Ryder Cup team since 1953, while Northern Irish players had competed since 1947. Since 1979, Europe has won eleven times outright and retained the Cup once in a tied match, with eight American wins over this period. In addition to players from Great Britain and Ireland, the European team has included players from Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Sweden. The Ryder Cup, and its