Exclusive:Luke Donald to host 16-player European Ryder Cup gathering at Adare Manor
Get-together at County Limerick venue will take place between Irish Open and BMW PGA Championship
Luke Donald is set to host a “familiarisation trip to Adare Manor” for a group of European players in the build up to next year’s centenary edition of the Ryder Cup at the County Limerick venue.
The Scotsman has learned that 16 players will be involved in a get-together in a fortnight’s time, having been arranged to take place after the Amgen Irish Open at Trump International Golf Links at Doonbeg, which is around 60 miles from Adare Manor.
The players involved in the gathering will then head straight to Wentworth to begin their preparations for the BMW PGA Championship, the third Rolex Series event of the DP World Tour season.
Donald, who is bidding to create history as the first captain on either side to win three matches in a row following triumphs in Rome and New York, will be joined at Adare Manor by his three vice captains - Edoardo and Francesco Molinari and Irishman Padraig Harrington.
It is believed that the final couple of player spots are set to be filled by Donald this week as the former world No 1 takes the performances of some potential candidates in the Husqvarna British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo at The Belfry into account.
Seven members of the triumphant European team in last year’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black are in the Amgen Irish Open 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 is understood that only about half of the 16 players have played Adare Manor before, either privately or in the JP McManus Pro-Am, which was last held in 2022.
The upcoming trip, therefore, will serve a double purpose by both allowing those players that haven’t played it to be exposed to it and those who have to re-familiarise themselves with it.
As an added bonus for Donald, the upcoming get-together will be taking place at literally the same time a year before the Ryder Cup, with demand for general admission tickets outstripping supply 12 times over.
For both the 2023 and 2025 matches, Donald hosted team gatherings at Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome and Bethpage Black in New York two or three weeks beforehand. It is understood that he will be planning something similar in 12 months’ time.
It is another example of how organised and prepared the Englishman is as a captain, as well, of course, as how determined and motivated he is to secure a place in the record books by making it three in a row for Team Europe.
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