Europe ready for Ryder Cup pressure

NEW YORK (AFP) — Europe Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald vowed his squad would be ready to handle the pressure and intensity of the golf showdown against the United States later this month.

Donald, who guided Europe to victory two years ago in Rome, made his six captain’s picks Monday to complete his lineup for the biennial matches on 26 to 28 September at Bethpage Black in suburban New York, where fans are expected to be loud USA supporters.

“If you’re prepared and you’re ready, we understand what’s going to happen to us,” Donald said.

“It’s our reaction to that that’s really important. We all have fears. We all have anxieties and we all find Ryder Cups pressurized, but these are top athletes that understand how to walk towards that fear.”

“You want to embrace what a Ryder Cup represents and part of that is embracing the crowd and embracing that atmosphere and certainly these guys will be ready for that.”

The Englishman will guide a veteran-filled squad, with his picks including Spain’s Jon Rahm, Ireland’s Shane Lowry, Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg, Austrian Sepp Straka, Norway’s Viktor Hovland and England’s Matt Fitzpatrick.

Those qualifying automatically on points previously included Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, England’s Justin Rose, Tyrrell Hatton and Tommy Fleetwood, Scotsman Robert MacIntyre and the only Cup rookie on the roster, Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard.

“We can only be authentic to ourselves. I think if you look at New Yorkers, they appreciate that,” Donald said. “They appreciate you going out there, fighting hard for your team.”

“They will be very passionate and supportive of the US. We’re quite aware of that and we’ll be ready for the noise.”

“Different challenges require different strategies and certainly this has been in the back of my mind for the whole captaincy.”

Donald is also as prepared as possible for the expected day-one appearance of US President Donald Trump.

“For him to be there, it just shows how big the Ryder Cup is,” Donald said.