Luke Donald announces Team Europe Ryder Cup picks – as his side look for first away victory in the US for 13 years
Luke Donald has staked his Ryder Cup defence on experience after keeping faith with 11 of the 12 names who beat the Americans in Rome in 2023.
In conforming to expectation, the European captain announced on Monday that his six picks would be Shane Lowry, Jon Rahm, Sepp Straka, Viktor Hovland, Ludvig Aberg and Matt Fitzpatrick.
Of those, the only minor doubts concerned Fitzpatrick, who started the year horribly after a difficult 2024, but his form in the past three months meant a fourth call-up became almost an inevitability by the selection deadline.
The picks join the automatic qualifiers – Rory McIlroy, Bob MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Tyrrell Hatton and Rasmus Hojgaard – for the match at Bethpage Black next month. The only change to the side that won two years ago is Hojgaard’s inclusion, with the quirk that the man to make way is his twin brother Nicolai.
Europe will face a formidable task, given they haven’t won away since the ‘Miracle of Medinah’ in 2012.
A raucous crowd is expected in New York, but Donald has armed himself with the Masters champion in McIlroy, the LIV champion in Rahm and Fleetwood, the recent winner of the PGA Tour’s Tour Championship.
Luke Donald has announced his picks for Team Europe for this month’s Ryder Cup in the USA
The European captain has stuck with 11 of the 12 stars who beat the Americans in 2023
Added to the likes of MacIntyre, Hovland and Rose, who have each had top-five finishes in the majors this season, and indeed Aberg and Straka, both winners on the PGA Tour in 2025, Donald has a reasonable chance of achieving an historic double.
He said: ‘There is a lot of continuity from Rome and it is unusual to have this many coming back. Even with the continuity playing away is a different animal.
‘It is a different challenge and having the chance to do it again doesn’t mean we will do the same things.
‘I am very aware we have lost three of the last four away and it is a tough environment but I have tried everything I can to give our team the best opportunity.’
Matt Wallace is among those to narrowly miss out. The Englishman broke down in tears at the weekend after finishing tied for second in Switzerland, having accepted he likely needed to win to gatecrash the party. Harry Hall, who has impressed on the PGA Tour this season, also entered the reckoning alongside Nicolai Hojgaard, Alex Noren and Marco Penge.
