Ryder Cup 2025 European captain's picks: the story behind Luke Donald's dozen
One change as Europe aim to take down US on their own patch
Luke Donald's dozen for the 45th Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black on Long Island this month will, remarkably, be the same 12 surnames as his gladiators in Rome in 2023. The only change is that the Hojgaard representing Europe on this occasion will be Rasmus instead of his twin brother, Nicolai.
Donald, who is bidding to join Tony Jacklin as the only captain to win both home and away in the biennial bout, already knew that Rory McIlroy, Bob MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Tyrrell Hatton and Rasmus Hojgaard had secured spots on his team through a year-long qualification battle.
As had been widely expected, his six picks announced live on Sky Sports on Monday were handed to Shane Lowry, Jon Rahm, Sepp Straka, Viktor Hovland, Ludvig Aberg and Matthew Fitzpatrick.
"I feel amazingly proud of these 12 players and and how well they have all played to make the team," said Donald, who is once again being assisted by the Molinari brothers, Edoarado and Francesco, as well as two other winning European captains in Jose Maria Olazabal and Thomas Bjorn. "Obviously we have a lot of continuity from Rome. It is unusual to have so many players coming back (from the last Ryder Cup), but it shows how good they all are."
Europe will be bidding to pull off a first victory on US soil since the 'Miracle at Medinah' in 2012, having suffered a record defeat four years ago at Whistling Straits.
"Even though we have a lot of continuity, this is a different animal, to play away in America," admitted the Englishman. "We have lost three of the last four matches in the US by significant margins and I have looked at it from very different angles to try and get us prepared and give this team the best opportunity in a tough environment."
Passion ‘second to none’
Lowry, who was narrowly pipped for the last automatic spot, will be making his third appearance against the Americans, with the Irishman declaring that one of the things that he gets up for every morning was "working for the next Ryder Cup".
Donald described Lowry's passion as "second to none" and also spoke about how the 2019 Open champion brought an "infectious energy and vibe to the team".
Rahm, who will be playing in his fourth Ryder Cup, joins his LIV Golf Legion XIII team-mate Hatton in the team, the pair being eligible through an appeals process against fines and suspensions imposed by the DP World Tour for playing in events on the breakaway circuit without an official release.
The Spaniard admitted he felt "emotional" about being handed a pick and vowed to play his part in producing a "better showing than last time in the US".
Donald said he felt the two-time major winner was someone who "sets the standard for us" in terms of being meticulous and spoke about how he was "usually the first person up" and also the "last person out of the team room" at night.
"He understands the history of the Ryder Cup and what it represents and he wants to follow in the footsteps of some amazing Spanish players that have led the way in the Ryder Cup, the Sergios, the Jose Marias and, of course, Seve, who we idolise in the Ryder Cup. Jon takes that history under his heart and plays like this because of that."
Reserved but ‘fire in belly’
Straka, who made history as the first Austrian to play in the event when he was one of the rookies in Rome, secured his spot on the back of winning twice on the PGA Tour this year.
"Outside Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, no-one has won more than Sepp this year, when he has also had five top-ten finishes in Elevated Events on the PGA Tour," observed Donald. "Sepp is quite a reserved character but has so much fire in his belly."
Norwegian Hovland and Swede Aberg joined forces to hand out a record 9&7 hammering to Scheffler and fellow major winner Brooks Koepka on the second morning in the match at Marco Simone Golf Club two years ago.
Hovland will be playing in a third successive encounter, with Donald loving the "energy" he possesses on a golf course and saying he had been "a lion for us in Rome".
Aberg was a somewhat surprise selection for the last match bearing in mind he hadn't played in a major at that stage of his career. However, his place in this team was never really in doubt.
"I took a bit of heat the last time over Ludvig but every now and then you see a player for the first time and know they have something special. He is one of the best players in the world and proved in Rome that he can hang," said Donald.
Big birthday present
Fitzpatrick's selection came on the day he turned 31. It will be the Englishman's fourth Ryder Cup appearance, though he doesn't really count his debut in 2016 due to it being an experience he tries to forget.
The 2022 US Open champion's place on the team looked in doubt as he struggled with his game earlier this year before running into form at just the right time. "Matt didn't get off to the best start this year and was struggling with his game a little bit, but he turned it around impressively," declared Donald.
"No-one has been better statistically than him over the last few months. I challenged Matt to play in the last two events in Europe and getting to Sunday in the last group the last two weeks (in the Betfred British Masters and Omega European Masters) showed us everything that Matt has. He's playing great golf right now. Six top-ten finishes, I think, in his last eight starts, and it is really impressive to see how much his game has come along trying to make this team."
The US team being captained by Keegan Bradley was finalised last week when automatic qualifiers Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, J.J. Spaun, Harris English, Russell Henley and Bryson DeChambeau were joined by Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Ben Griffin, Cameron Young, Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns as the six wildcards.
"I'm excited that we now have our 12 players in place," said Donald of the European line up now unveiled as well. "Together we are all fully focused on trying to retain the Ryder Cup in New York and trying to create history."
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