European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald feels that the experience of Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose will be crucial if his side are to record their first victory on U.S. soil since Medinah in 2012.
Donald was the world number one for most of 2012 but was eventually unseated by McIlroy when the then 23-year-old captured his second major championship at the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island in August, and the trio – along with 2012’s captain José María Olazábal who is one of Donald’s vice-captains time around – provide a direct link to the side hoping to repeat the feat at Bethpage.
“Their experience is important and the experience of our vice-captains having gone through that and [I] experienced it myself,” Donald said in a pre-tournament press conference at Wentworth where he’s set to put his captaincy briefly aside and take his place in the field. “Obviously good experiences from my standpoint, 2004 we won quite easily and 2012 was obviously the comeback.”
Home advantage has been a crucial factor in each of the last five Ryder Cups, but Donald, having tasted success at Medinah and at Oakland Hills in 2004, embraces underdog status and says that it’s only to be expected that the visitors are on the receiving end of hostility from the home fans.
“Yeah, I certainly enjoyed playing in an away Ryder Cup,” he said. “In a way, you’ve got a little bit less pressure. The home team is meant to win. So I don’t mind that. As long as you’re prepared for getting a little bit of stick from the fans, I think that’s okay.
“I think everyone deals with it differently and individually. For me it was quite motivating to go knowing that probably we were the underdog and we weren’t expected to win, and it fueled me to play well.
“So again, these are things we’ve already talked through with some of the players and will continue to talk to them. But 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.”
The European contingent will fly out to New York on Sunday evening for their first collective look at Bethpage’s famous Black Course for some practice and further team bonding in the Big Apple.
“Well, we plan to play nine holes on Monday and 18 holes on Tuesday,” Donald explained. “We’ll go into the city for a fun dinner Tuesday night. Because we don’t get to go into the City during the week of the Ryder Cup. It’s obviously on the doorstep, but it’s just far enough away and so busy that week. It’s nice to experience where we are, that New York kind of vibe.”
He wasn’t willing to divulge any of his potential partnerships, however, and suggested that his backroom team and himself have different options in mind.
“Will you get an idea of my pairings?” he responded when directly asked. “Well, you can read into it however you want. There will be lots of different groups, different pairings playing together. Again, these things are never always set in stone. We always have a plan in place and another plan if things go in a different direction.
“So we’ll try and have a lot of options for the week. But obviously myself, Edoardo, the other vice captains, we’ve already had many conversations about that and started to figure it all out.”
While Donald’s leadership was lauded in Rome two years ago and the partnerships all brought positive results, he did suggest that we may not necessarily see a repeat of the pairings from Marco Simone.
“Again, I think players change,” he said. “It’s two years since Rome, and so excited about the continuity and having a team that is very similar to Rome. I think that’s a massive benefit for us. But players change.
“Just, again, I’ve said this before: Look at someone like Bob. He’s become a much better player in the last two years. I didn’t see a similar option for foursomes but the potential is there this time around because of the way he plays the game now.
“Again, you have to always consider sort of those things that not everyone is playing the same. People shift whether you are a good driver or approach player or a putter. Those things move around in your career, and so you adapt to that.”
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