Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald reveals ‘massive importance’ of Abu Dhabi event
Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald reveals ‘massive importance’ of Abu Dhabi event
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Luke Donald gave his potential Ryder Cup players a taste of what to expect at Bethpage as he hailed the “massive importance” of this week’s Team Cup. Footage posted on social media showed players from Great Britain and Ireland and Continental Europe forced to listen to chants of “U-S-A, U-S-A” over the PA system ahead of practice rounds at Abu Dhabi Golf Resort.
The Team Cup, which effectively filled the gap left by the Seve Trophy, was revived in 2023 to boost Europe’s chances of regaining the Ryder Cup, a move which paid off with a resounding victory under Donald’s captaincy in Rome. Donald will captain the side again in New York in September – where a hostile atmosphere is expected – and is also overseeing the Team Cup, where Francesco Molinari will bid for a second win as captain of Continental Europe against a GB&I side led by Justin Rose.
“If you look at this event two years ago, half the team we had in Rome played here two years ago,” Donald said. “I think it has massive importance. “You’ve got two great teams, you have rookies that are hungry to try and make a mark, and you have two guys that have a lot of experience.
“It’s great for me to oversee it and see how these players perform under match play team competition and under that kind of pressure. “I think match play and team match play brings with it a different pressure. You see how people cope under that and you see how they react. Certain people did better than others, and Nicolai [Hojgaard] was an example.
