Ryder Cup road trip - Luke Donald reveals plan to deliver success on US soil

As was the case in the build up to a win in Rome two years ago, Donald has planned a get-together for his team at Bethpage Black before the 45th edition of the transatlantic tussle.

It will take place on Monday, 15 and Tuesday, 16 September, which is straight after the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, where all 12 players are expected to be in attendance.

The players will then stay on in the US rather than head back across the Atlantic then have to make the opposite journey again at the start of the following week, which has traditionally been the case for an away match.

“I will next be there the week before as we are planning a practice trip Monday-Tuesday, the week after Wentworth.The plan is nine holes on Monday and 18 holes on Tuesday,” revealed Donald, speaking on the eve of the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo at The Belfry.

Asked if they would then be staying over, he added: “Yeah, well, some of those guys have places in America. For me, it would be more ideal to stay in the United States rather than go back and forth than deal with jet-lag.”

The likes of Rory McIlroy, Tyrrell Hatton, Shane Lowry, Sepp Straka, Ludvig Aberg and Viktor Hovland all have bases in the US but not Bob MacIntyre or even Tommy Fleetwood or Justin Rose.

‘There will be groups hanging out in the US’

“Yeah, we've got lots of plans,” declared Donald of the level of organisation that could mean a two-week road trip for those players. “There will be groups hanging out, maybe not the whole 12 together. Some people will want to go back to their homes, but there will definitely be a chance for some of them to hang out for a two-week period.”

For the match in Rome two years ago, most of the Americans hadn’t played competitively for a few weeks yet didn’t arrive at Marco Simone Golf Club until the Monday of the event.

“Yeah, I think our schedule works quite well,” observed Donald, who is bidding to emulate Tony Jacklin as the only captain to record home and away wins in the biennial event.

“Most of the team will likely be at Wentworth, I would have thought. It's good to be playing in a routine that you're accustomed to playing at your highest level. Yeah, I'm happy with how much rest they will be getting before the Ryder Cup.”

This week’s DP World Tour event at a four-time host venue for the Ryder Cup marks the end of a year-long qualification battle to make the European team. Dane Rasmus Hojgaard is the only player who can jump into one of the six automatic spots, but, according to Donald, others are still in the mix for the six picks at his disposal.

“Obviously excited about the five that are locked in,” he said of McIlroy, MacIntyre, Fleetwood, Rose and Hatton all being confirmed as automatic qualifiers. “There's a bunch of guys on that team that are still performing well, the Viktors, Ludwig, Sepp, Shane, Fitzy [Matt Fitzpatrick] has been playing really well.

“But you've got some other guys that are trying to force their way on to the team, like Marco [Penge] last week,” he said of the Englishman landing a second DP World Tour triumph this season by winning the Danish Golf Championship. “Harry Hall has been playing great.

‘Even though it’s a headache, it’s a really good headache’

“There's many others, as well, that obviously are still really on the radar. It always happens in Ryder Cups. People make a push at the end and want to be part of the team. Even though it's a headache for me in terms of how many players are giving themselves a chance, it's really a good headache.”

With the European team not being confirmed until Monday, 1 September, Donald will also be taking next week’s Omega European Masters in Switzerland into account before making his final decision.