European captain Luke Donald drops huge Bob MacIntyre hint for Ryder Cup

MacIntyre played in two fourball sessions alongside Justin Rose on his debut in the biennial bout at Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome, where he finished unbeaten in his three games in total.

Donald has now admitted for the first time that the Oban man wasn’t really considered for the foursomes on that occasion, but, two years on, it’s a different situation altogether.

MacIntyre is heading into this encounter as a two-time PGA Tour winner and a major contender these days, with his overall statistics having improved dramatically this year.

“I am so excited about the continuity and having a team that is very similar to Rome,” said Donald, speaking on the eve of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, of 11 of the team from that match in the line up again. “I think that's a massive benefit for us.

“But players change. Look at someone like Bob. He's become a much better player in the last two years. I didn't see him as an option for foursomes but, potentially, there is this time around because of the way he plays the game now.”

Austrian Sepp Straka, who has stayed at home in the US following the recent premature birth of his child, is the only player from Donald’s dozen not teeing up in this week’s $8 million Rolex Series event in Surrey.

On Tuesday night, Donald, who is bidding to emulate Tony Jacklin by winning both home and away as European captain, hosted a dinner for not only his players but also their partners and wives and caddies as well.

“Oh, mostly social,” said the Englishman in reply to being asked if had involved some strategy. “A little bit of strategy was talked about, but it was mostly an event to get together. It's a nice opportunity this week to be together.”

As part of the bid to land a first win on US soil since 2012 at Medinah, the European team will spend Monday and Tuesday next week at Bethpage Black, playing nine holes the first day then 18 holes the second day.

The players will then do their own thing for the rest of the week before meeting up again at the Long Island venue on Monday week.

“We'll go into the city for a fun dinner Tuesday night,” revealed Donald. “Because we don't get to go into the City during the week of the Ryder Cup. It's obviously on the doorstep, but it's just far enough away and so busy that week. It's nice to experience where we are, that New York kind of vibe.

“Between then and the event, some people are sticking together up in New York. Some people are going to work with their coaches. Some people are going home. It's not all 12 together doing the same thing and I think that’s important. They are together a lot this week. If you are all together next week and the week after, maybe that's a little overkill.

“Some of them will be together playing some courses up in the New York area, but it's really up to them. As long as they are not flying back to Europe and have to deal with jet-lag, I don't really mind what they do. Yeah, they all good plans in place.”

Donald also spoke about US President Donald Trump’s planned attendance on the opening day of the event’s 45th edition, having been at Flushing Meadows on Sunday for the US Open tennis men’s final.

“Yeah, we were told that he's coming Friday,” said the former world No 1. “We don't know the details yet. I think the DP World Tour is talking with the PGA of America to get more information. I guess he will want to be on the first tee and both teams will be ready for that.

“There were some delays at the tennis, but hopefully they have learnt from that. It's a big process, obviously, to get a president to come to an event. There's a lot of security and everything. It takes some work, I'm sure.

“The PGA of America's job is to make sure it's seamless, and he wants to be there to probably greet the players, and I think the crowd is probably going to be loud no matter what. We know he's going to be there, so it's fine.”

The European captain also spoke about how his team aim to handle what is likely to be a boisterous crowd as the New York fans bid to turn up the heat on the visitors.

“We will have a unified approach amongst the players, the caddies, the wives, everything,” said Donald. “Obviously we've been told by the PGA of America, that's a strong amount of police are going to be there. They have their protocols in place, too. A lot of conversations over the last six months, and they have assured me that it's going to run smoothly.”