Donald Confident Europe Can Handle US Ryder Cup Pressure
An experienced Europe squad with 11 of 12 players returning from a 2023 triumph will be prepared for intense and passionate American spectators in next week's Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black. So says Europe captain Luke Donald, whose only change in his lineup from a Rome romp over the United States will be having Denmark's Rasmus Hojgaard replace his twin brother Nicolai on the roster in the biennial golf showdown. "You want to embrace what a Ryder Cup represents and part of that is embracing the crowd and embracing that atmosphere and certainly these guys will be ready for that," said Donald. "If you're prepared and you're ready, we understand what's going to happen to us. It's our reaction to that that's really important.
"We all have fears. We all have anxieties and we all find Ryder Cups pressurized, but these are top athletes that understand how to walk towards that fear." Reigning Masters champion Rory McIlroy, whose emotional playoff victory over England's Justin Rose at Augusta National completed a career Grand Slam, leads Europe. The world number two from Northern Ireland is a five-time major winner. "We know how difficult it's going to be. We're under no illusion," McIlroy said. "We have a massive opportunity to do something that not a lot of Ryder Cup teams can say they've done. I've been lucky enough to be part of one Ryder Cup team that won away. We have experience in knowing what it takes."
Europe's other qualifiers included England's sixth-ranked Tommy Fleetwood, who won last month's Tour Championship for his first PGA victory; Scotland's ninth-ranked US Open runner-up Robert MacIntyre, Hojgaard, 14th-ranked Rose and England's Tyrrell Hatton from LIV Golf, whose events offer no world ranking points. Donald's captain's picks included world number 11 Viktor Hovland of Norway, 15th-ranked Sepp Straka of Austria, 16th-ranked Ludvig Aberg of Sweden, Ireland's 24th-ranked Shane Lowry, England's world number 29 Matt Fitzpatrick and LIV Golf season champion Jon Rahm, a two-time major winner from Spain. "I think we're playing good enough and we're a good and strong enough team to face what we're going to face at Bethpage and hopefully end up with the Cup," Rahm said.
Donald has prepared players for the extra pressure of US President Donald Trump attending Friday's opening day. "I guess he will want to be on the first tee," Donald said. "He wants to be there to probably greet the players and I think the crowd is probably going to be loud no matter what." Donald gave players virtual reality equipment to get critical audio while they practice to prepare for the New York crowds. "As long as you're prepared for getting a little bit of stick from the fans, I think that's OK," Donald said. "It's important that we have a good amount of experience in that team room with people that have dealt with it and we will certainly share that and learn from it. "They will be very passionate and supportive of the US. We're quite aware of that and we'll be ready for the noise."
Europe conducted two days of practice at Bethpage Black after most of the lineup played in last week's BMW PGA Championship. "We definitely are getting into Ryder Cup mode," McIlroy said. "We're all very excited." Chemistry and camaraderie are built in with so many familiar faces in the Europe lineup trying to achieve the first road victory since Europe's 2012 "Miracle at Medinah" fightback. "To have us all together and have the experience and team connection, hopefully it will serve as an advantage," said England's Tommy Fleetwood. Donald expects minimal rough and fast greens in the US course set-up but will rely on his veteran-laden squad to sort it out. "Excited about the continuity and having a team that's very similar to Rome. I think that's a massive benefit for us," Donald said.
"A lot of my thinking revolves around crowd management and how we react as a team. As long as you're prepared for getting a little bit of stick from the fans, I think that's OK."
