Unlike with Keegan Bradley last week, there isn’t really a lot for Donald to expand upon here. He’s on the Sky couch now with Nick Dougherty waxing on about his players but it’s dull enough stuff - he’s typically not giving a whole lot away. If he says anything interesting, I’ll write it up here.
Philip Reid’s Team Europe pen pics will be along presently too.
So Luke Donald did exactly what everyone thought he would. The six picks are the people everyone imagined. It looks like a deeper team than the Americans have but home advantage is huge.
Donald: “Having the chance to do it again doesn’t mean we’re going to do the same things we did in Rome. I’ve really tries to look hard at what this will require. I’m very aware that we have lost the three of the last four away Ryder Cups by significant margins. It’s a tough challenge, a tough environment but I’ve tried everything I can to give our team the best chance of success.”
Pick SIX: MATT FITZPATRICK
Donald: “He’s actually celebrating his birthday today so we have two reasons to congratulate him. Didn’t get off to the best start this year but has turned it around impressively. I challenged him to go play the last two events in Europe and getting into the last group the last two Sundays really showed us.”
Fitzpatrick: “A nice birthday present. There’s a lot of belief after the last few weeks. I feel like I turned my game around from the start of the season. Obviously my form at the moment is a real positive and it will be nice to hopefully show that at Bethpage.”
Pick Five: LUDVIG ABERG
Donald: “He was only three months into his professional career when i picked him two years ago. Now he is a Ryder Cup winner and a two-time winner on the PGA Tour.
“There a few players that I’ve played with throughout my career and you just know they’re something special. He’s obviously made himself one of the very best players in the world. The accolades keep coming.
Aberg: “I definitely feel more experienced this time. I had the most amazing week in Rome. It was the first time I got to experience those things. I knew I wanted to be there in the future as well.”
Pick Four: VIKTOR HOVLAND
Donald: “Just look at his energy and his smile. Viktor is one of my favourite humans. I’m always impressed with how dedicated he is to his craft. He was a lion for us in Rome and he can be again.”
Hovland: “It feels awesome to be here. I feel my palms getting really sweaty here. Golf is an individual sport and I do really miss the team aspect that I had in college. You get to represent 11 other guys, captains, vice-captains, fans. It’s something bigger than yourself.”
Pick Three: SEPP STRAKA
Donald: “Outside of Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, nobody has won more in the United States this year. A quiet and reserved character but huge fire in his belly.”
Straka: “It’s incredible. I couldn’t have picked a better partner than Shane, he was always fun to lean on in those high pressure moments. Looking forward to some good memories in New York.”
Pick Two: JON RAHM
Donald: “A two-time major champion, a player keeping up the proud Spanish legacy in the Ryder Cup.”
“He sets the standard. He’s usually the first person up, the last person out of the team room. He understands the history of Spain in the Ryder Cup.”
Rahm: “I did not think I’d be as emotional as I feel right now. It’s going to be special. It’s going to be difficult for us but looking forward to having a better showing than we did the last time in the US.”
“The biggest challenge for most of us will be the environment. But we can use it to our advantage. In my experience, New York fans can be quite fun. Very creative. It can be a fun week. Stressful, yes. But fun.”
Pick One: SHANE LOWRY
Donald: “A man whose passion for the Ryder Cup is second to none. Obviously very close to making it automatically. Understands team above everything else.”
Lowry: “Honestly, it’s unbelievable. It’s been a stressful few weeks, a stressful year to try and make the team. I honestly feel like every day I wake up, one of my goals is making the next Ryder Cup team.
“Whistling Straits was a bit different. There were no European fans at all. There’ll be a few this time. There’s a lot of talk about what the crowd will be like but if there’s one thing I know about Luke Donald and his team, it’s that they’ll have us ready to go on the Friday morning.”
Donald rattles through the six qualifiers. Keeps it nice and brief.
Sky are running the show here. Nick Dougherty welcomes Donald to the stage. “Well done, mate. Thanks for coming in,” he says, a little unnecessarily. What else was he going to do?
Here we go then. Who will join Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Robert MacIntyre, Rory McIlroy, Rasmus Højgaard and Justin Rose? Anything other than a confirmation of Jon Rahm, Matt Fitzpatrick, Shane Lowry, Sepp Straka, Ludvig Aberg and Viktor Hovland will be a huge surprise.
Just under 15 minutes to go now. Luke Donald is expected at the mic at 2pm.
For the trivia fans out there, it seems pretty nailed on that whatever formulation Donald comes up with in the next hour or so will make history. Since the Ryder Cup began 98 years ago, the fewest changes made by either side between one set of matches and the next has been three. If, as seems likely, Donald only makes one change from the team that won in Rome - Rasmus Hojgaard for Nicolai - it will be the first time a team from either side of the pond has run it back with only one change.
In fairness, Wallace couldn’t have done much more to sew at least some small seeds of doubt into the whole thing. This was him over the weekend after coming tied second in Switzerland.
It would be pretty funny if Donald pulled a rabbit from a hat here, of course. But what would that surprise bunny even look like? Matt Wallace for Shane Lowry or Sepp Straka? A second Hojgaard twin snuck in to unsettle the Americans? Luke Donald just isn’t that sort of cat. And even if he was, the fact that Keegan Bradley has done the sensible thing and not picked himself has surely made it even more likely that Europe will go with the tried and tested here.
European captain Luke Donald will today confirm his six picks to complete Europe’s Ryder Cup line-up ahead of the event later this month.
Irish eyes will be fixed on Shane Lowry who narrowly missed out on automatic qualification for the team but will be hopeful of being picked today.
Rory McIlroy, Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Rasmus Hojgaard and Tyrrell Hatton are the six players already confirmed to be on the team.
The announcement is due to be made at 2pm and you can follow all the coverage live here.
Key Reads
- Major champions aplenty at the Irish Open as it finds September sweet spot
- Captain Keegan Bradley opts against picking himself for US team
