Luke Donald heralded the performances of experienced players like Tyrrell Hatton and Tommy Fleetwood as well as rookie players Laurie Canter, Matthieu Pavon and Aaron Rai, but didn’t mention the performance of Tom McKibbin at the Team Cup.
McKibbin earned three points from four matches as Great Britain and Ireland romped to a 17-8 win over Continental Europe and he looked more than comfortable in his four ball and foursomes ties alongside Hatton, Aaron Rai and Matthew Jordan.
The 22-year-old looks set for a shock move to LIV Golf to join Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII team meaning it would make things increasingly difficult for him to earn a rookie appearance at September’s Ryder Cup in Bethpage Black which is perhaps why Donald chose to omit him from his post match praises..
“Tommy and Tyrrell played unbelievable golf; we know how good they are,” Donald told Sky Sports. “They were certainly a difference maker in the end.
“I was impressed with Laurie and on the European side, Pavon, I think, really played some good golf. He just looked very ready from the get go. But everyone played a part, and everyone contributed.”
McKibbin, who will forego a rookie campaign on the PGA Tour with a move to LIV, will most likely be relying on a captain’s pick from Donald but it appears he will face stiff competition from other younger players.
“He’s 22 in the world right now,” Donald said of Rai, who became a PGA Tour winner last season. “He’s proved that he’s just getting better and better each year, every time he plays.
“So it was really important for him to come be a part of a team environment; see how these team competitions work. And he loved the week.”
As for Canter, who won three of his four matches having returned to European golf from LIV, Donald said: “Very impressive. I think just behind Tommy and Tyrrell, he was our third-best player statistically going into the singles.
“It’s important for them to be in that team environment, to understand what a Ryder Cup and a team event feels like,” Donald said of the potential rookies.
“But the Ryder Cup is times 100 maybe the feelings, the anxiety, the stress, the crowds watching you, the being under the microscope.
“It’s a different thing. So you try and recreate a little bit of that, and give them a taste of what it’s going to be like, and whet their appetite for wanting to play well the next seven, eight months so they can be on that team.”
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