Luke Donald confirmed that he and vice captain Edoardo Molinari went on a scouting trip to Bethpage Black ahead of next year’s Ryder Cup.
Having led Europe to victory in Rome last September, Donald has retained his role as captain of the continent as they look for their first away Ryder Cup victory since the Miracle in Medinah in 2012.
“I think home or away, it’s taking time. Obviously it’s a little bit up to you how much time you want to put in, but there’s a lot of little details that take place, a lot of little things that I think can be important with the end result,” said Donald after an opening 70 at the PGA Championship in Valhalla.
“I had a good trip last week to Bethpage. Came with Edoardo and a couple of the team, the back room staff, looking at team spaces, looking at beds, looking at the golf course, obviously where everything is going to be at the golf course, possible areas in the hotel. So just starting that planning process now. It’s nice to have some time to kind of figure all that stuff out.”
Team USA are yet to announce who their skipper will be in New York next year but Donald isn’t paying too much attention to what happens Stateside.
“I haven’t really thought about it too much. There’s been a lot of chitchat. It’s not really affecting what we do, and whoever the captain is, I’m looking forward to Bethpage.”
Donald is under-par heading into the second round of the PGA Championship having kickstarted his day with an opening birdie and he is pleased with the signs his game is showing despite missing four out of four cuts on the PGA TOUR this term.
“I played quite well at the beginning of the year in Dubai. I had a chance to be top 10 in the Dubai Invitational. At home practicing, my game shows a lot of signs. I just haven’t really taken it to tournaments. I’ve played obviously less this year. This is only my fifth event on the PGA TOUR in the U.S., seventh overall. It’s been a little bit difficult sometimes to get that momentum. You have a few weeks off and then you play one week and have a few more weeks off. I’ve found that a little bit more difficult to kind of get in that rhythm.
“But yeah, I’m very happy to hit some solid shots today.”
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