Ryder Cup: Luke Donald makes early statement of intent ahead of colossal clash in Rome

The gladiatorial connections aren’t lost on anyone. From the very first tee – with the horse-shoed grandstand wrapped in images of the Coliseum and, so, associating back to historical man-on-man battles with one winner and one loser – this 44th edition of the Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf Club sets down a marker of expectation: a close battle is most assuredly anticipated.

As ever, the past few days of players practising in interchangeable groupings, most especially the Europeans, only served to provide a smokescreen over the actuality of who would play with who.

And, for sure, Luke Donald appeared to send out a statement with the composition of his foursomes pairings for the opening morning’s session in throwing Ludvig Åberg, not so much to the lions, but straight into the fray with the belief he is the one capable of inflicting damage.

“I’ve been very impressed. Obviously, Ludvig’s driving, the few tournaments he played on the PGA Tour, he was the number one driver in all of golf. Ahead of Rory McIlroy. Ahead of Scottie Scheffler in the rankings. We know driving is important this week and in foursomes, if you’re in the short stuff, it’s going to make life a lot easier,” attested Donald.

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For sure, Donald’s decision to include Åberg from the get-go is as much about further backing himself for the audaciously wise move to include the Swede, a mere wet day as a professional, into his team as a wild card. But it also shrewdly sends a message to everyone else in the European team room that bold moves are there to be taken, that he will do what it takes to regain the trophy from American hands.

This European team is in transition with the loss of so many of its traditional standard bearers. After suffering a heavy defeat at Whistling Straits (19-9) two years ago, that loss would seem to have provided the dying efforts of those stalwarts, among them Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood, even before their moves to LIV ruled out any prospect of them remaining in the fold.

What has happened as a result has provided an opportunity for Donald – himself jettisoned into the role of captain after Henrik Stenson too went to LIV – to form a team of young guns that make for a brave new world, with Åberg, who only turned professional at the start of the summer, the not-so-secret weapon unleashed.

The firepower is clear and obvious within Europe’s ranks, with three of the world’s top four ranked players – Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Viktor Hovland – all commissioned for duty in the opening session of foursomes, and with the likelihood that the three on-course leaders will be busy men for most of the five sessions.

McIlroy, especially, is out to prove a point after a disappointing performance in 2021 when he managed just one point (in the singles) from four matches. The Northern Irishman’s pairing with Tommy Fleetwood is a new one which has been on Donald’s mind for some time.

“The last few weeks has been many iterations of pairings and stuff. I think probably last week this would have been what I had in mind, and I’ve seen great play from these guys and from the other four and the whole 12 over these last few days, nothing that would have changed my plans, to be honest. Again, we had a pretty good plan in place. It was always going to be a plan that could change, but I didn’t really need to because the guys are playing fantastic golf,” said Donald.

Another new foursomes partnership is that of Shane Lowry with Sepp Straka, again with the emphasis on their ability to keep the ball on the fairway, which is a key element to foursomes play. “I’m very happy playing with Sepp. He’s been playing great this year, and he’s been playing great all week. I’m happy to go out there and go into battle with him,” said Lowry.

For the Offalyman, a long qualifying campaign which ultimately left him requiring a captain’s pick has seen him energised in recent weeks at the Horizon Irish Open and the BMW PGA Championship. And the faith placed in him by Donald to introduce Straka to golfing warfare like no other is yet another strong backing from the European captain.

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Donald – and his backroom team of vice-captains and data analysts – have contrived to make for a strong start to get momentum. And there is also a plan that all 12 players will get to taste action on the first day’s play against an American team which features six players from the world’s top-10, headed Scottie Scheffler. Brooks Koepka, meanwhile, is among those kept in reserve for the afternoon fourballs.

The historical element, though, should not be overlooked. The USA have found it so difficult to win on European turf – where the fairways are narrowed and the rough encouraged – that the decades have slipped by with only failures as reminders of their time on this side of the Atlantic. The USA’s last win in Europe was back in 1993, three decades of hurt.

What does Donald make of his men and their preparedness to again rebuke the Americans?

“I would say they’re very fearless,” remarked Donald.

Friday morning foursomes

(all times Irish)

6.35am Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton v Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns

6.50am Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg v Max Homa and Brian Harman

7.05am Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka v Rickie Fowler and Collin Morikawa

7.20am Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood v Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay