Padraig Harrington has been appointed as a vice-captain for Team Europe at the 2027 Ryder Cup, bringing one of Ireland's greatest golfers back to Irish soil for the event (BBC Sport).

The 2027 contest will be held at Adare Manor in County Limerick — the first time the Ryder Cup has returned to Ireland since 2006, when the K Club hosted Europe's victory under Ian Woosnam's captaincy. Harrington played on that team, one of six Ryder Cup appearances that yielded 10½ points across 25 matches (BBC Sport).

"You wouldn't want to miss out with it being in Ireland, so I'm very pleased," Harrington said (BBC Sport).

He is the third vice-captain named by European captain Luke Donald, joining the Molinari brothers — Edoardo, appointed in April, and Francesco, added in June (Ryder Cup). Donald described Harrington's connection to Irish crowds and his experience as both a Ryder Cup player and vice-captain as valuable assets to the backroom staff (BBC Sport).

The appointment closes a neat circle. Donald served as a vice-captain under Harrington at the 2021 Ryder Cup (played in 2020, delayed by the pandemic), when Harrington led Europe at Whistling Straits. Now the roles have reversed, with Harrington answering the call from the man who once worked for him.

Harrington's CV carries real weight. Three major championships — the Open in 2007 and 2008, and the PGA Championship in 2008 — sit alongside 44 career tournament victories. On the Champions Tour (the over-50 circuit), he has won three US Senior Open titles, equalling the record. He also served as a European vice-captain in each of the three Ryder Cups before getting the top job himself (Yahoo Sports).

For Donald, the stakes in 2027 run deeper than home advantage. Having captained Europe to victory at Marco Simone in Rome in 2023, he is chasing a third consecutive European win — something no captain has achieved in the modern format. A win at Adare Manor would put him alone in that record.

The United States have been building their own backroom team in parallel. Jim Furyk, named US captain in April, has five vice-captains in place: Stewart Cink and Justin Leonard were the latest additions in May (Ryder Cup). Furyk knows the role well, having served as a vice-captain on four occasions, including US victories at Hazeltine in 2016 and Whistling Straits in 2021.

The Ryder Cup — a biennial team match between Europe and the United States, and one of golf's most fiercely contested prizes — has a habit of rewarding the side that manages its personnel best. Donald's staff now pairs the statistical nous of Edoardo Molinari with Harrington's three decades of major-championship and match-play experience. On Irish soil, with Irish galleries, that last appointment looks less like strategy and more like common sense.