Luke Donald's Ryder Cup trip to Adare Manor has 16 spots up for grabs and Irish Open may hold key
Familiarisation trip is first step to glory - but who will be there
Luke Donald’s countdown to a bid to create Ryder Cup history will begin in earnest when the European captain hosts a “familiarisation trip to Adare Manor” in just over a fortnight’s time.
As exclusively revealed by The Scotsman, the get-together involving 16 players will take place at the venue for next year’s centenary edition the day after the Amgen Irish Open finishes at Doonbeg, which is around 60 miles from Adare Manor.
The gathering will be overseen by Donald, who is bidding to become the first Ryder Cup captain from either side to win three matches in a row, having already led Europe to victory in the 2023 and 2025 matches against the United States.
The identity of the players taking part has not been revealed by Donald, but it seems likely that the group will include some of the star names competing in the Amgen Irish Open.
Seven members of the triumphant European team in last year’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black are in the field, namely Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, Bob MacIntyre, Shane Lowry, Sepp Straka and Rasmus Hojgaard.
Others in the line up include Nicolai Hojgaard, who was on the victorious side in 2023, and Alex Fitzpatrick, a PGA Tour winner this year alongside his big brother, Matt.
It remains to be seen if the five other team members from Bethpage Black - Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Ludvig Aberg and Viktor Hovland - will also be taking part in the Adare Manor trip.
That is a possibility, though, as they are all due to be on this side of the Atlantic for the BMW PGA Championship, which takes place the week after the Amgen Irish Open.
Given the continuity from 2023 to 2025 - there was only one change as Rasmus Hojgaard replaced Nicolai - it would seem likely that Donald would be keen for them to be in attendance.
If so - and if both Fitzpatricks and both Hojgaards are on the list - that would only leave a couple of spots that were potentially up for grabs.
PGA champion Aaron Rai and Truist Championship winner Kristoffer Reitan aren’t in the Amgen Irish Open field and neither are the likes of Marco Penge or Jordan Smith, though there is no PGA Tour event taking place the same week and, therefore, they could be on Donald’s list.
Other contenders to be there include Matt Wallace, who has come close on a couple of occasions to making teams, Irishman Seamus Power and Eugenio Chacarra, one of European golf’s rising stars.
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