Luke Donald, captain of the European team for the Ryder Cup, revealed his six personal picks on Monday from the Sky Sports studios to complete the team that will aim to triumph at the end of the month at Bethpage Black against United States. As expected, the list includes the Spaniard Jon Rahm, whose switch to LIV Golf, a tour that does not count towards the official world golf ranking, prevented him from qualifying directly from the points list.
The man from Barrika, along with Shane Lowry, Viktor Hovland, Ludvig Aberg, Sepp Straka, and Matt Fitzpatrick, have been chosen by the captain to join Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Rasmus Hojgaard, Robert MacIntyre, Rory McIlroy, and Justin Rose, who already had their places secured in the team due to the results they have accumulated in the various qualifying tournaments they have participated in.
“Luke called me a couple of weeks ago to tell me I was going to be on the team, and it was a very special feeling,” revealed Rahm during the live broadcast after being selected. “Jon is a team player, he prepares meticulously for this competition, he is the first to get up, the last to finish training, and follows in the footsteps of the great Spanish players in the history of the Ryder Cup,” said Donald about the champion from Barrika.
With his selections, Luke Donald will take 11 of the 12 players he had under his command at the Ryder Cup in Rome to Bethpage Black. Never in history has any team repeated so many players from one edition to the next of the tournament. Interestingly, the newcomer is Rasmus Hojgaard… who joins the team instead of his brother Nicolai.
