Luke Donald’s nightmare may be over.
nightmare?
Didn’t this guy just captain Europe’s Ryder Cup team to a road victory two years after captaining them to a home victory at the Euros, which was a dream scenario at best?
surely. And that success was certainly sublime for Donald. But getting there took effort. Or, more precisely, work Work apparently came to bed with Donald, an interesting revelation on Tuesday ahead of a DP World Tour event in India. That was after a reporter asked the former world number one player how he was adjusting to preparing for tournament golf just weeks after the Ryder Cup.
“To be honest, I don’t know if I do,” Donald said. “Yeah, that happened after Rome (two years ago) and it’s something similar this time.”
Why was that?
“Captainship is really important. You spend five or six weeks just thinking about partnerships, pairings, golf courses, gifts, all sorts of things leading up to the Ryder Cup,” he said.
“There’s so much going on that my head gets stuck.”
Why?
It’s in your head even when your eyes are closed.
“There have been many nights where I’ve woken up dreaming of the Ryder Cup, like one night when I forgot the radio and there was one match left on the course and I was panicking and trying to go to the match. That’s just the way it is. It takes me a while to calm down,” Donald said.
“I think actually coming out here and playing in the tournament will actually help. It will give me more of an idea of what I have to do this week.”
“It’s a fun problem to have after winning the Ryder Cup, but I’m excited to get back to playing.”
‘Tough situation:’ Viktor Hovland doesn’t think Ryder Cup rules dispute will be resolved easily
On Tuesday, Donald was asked a few other questions about the Ryder Cup.
– He answered what qualities make Rory McIlroy suitable to be Ryder Cup captain.
“Well, just the fact that he loves the Ryder Cup more than anything,” Donald said. “He made it very clear that winning the Ryder Cup on the road would cap off a great year.
“Yeah, he loves what it represents. He’s seen the emotion from losing to winning. I think anyone who has that passion for the Ryder Cup would make a good captain.”
– He was asked if he would be captain in 2027 and reacted to the idea that he was being called Europe’s greatest captain.
“Well, whether I’m captain or not, I try to enjoy this game,” Donald said. “If in two years I’m not captain and the captain wants me to be there, I’ll be happy to help him in the way he wants.
“Yeah, it’s very humbling for someone to say you’re the greatest captain. Maybe I’m reacting a little bit in this moment, but I’ve certainly given a lot to it. I’m very happy with the result, but you need those 12 players. You need the backroom team, you need the vice-captain. You need a lot of other players to make that happen.”
“I certainly play a role, but I play a small role in terms of the big picture. I couldn’t have done it without our amazing support.”
–The reporter then suggested that Donald needed to motivate the European team before asking how one creates winners.
“Well, I disagree a little bit. I don’t think my job is to motivate them,” Donald said. “These are very motivated players. The Ryder Cup means a lot to us. My job is to create a little bit of unity, to bring all the players together around a common theme and make sure they are inspired to want to win.”
“We talk a lot about our history, we talk a lot about the players who came before us, and we talk a lot about our role as ambassadors of the game to inspire the next generation.”
“I think the Ryder Cup has a very deep meaning for a lot of players and brings out the best in them. So my job is really to create that culture, that environment, where they feel like what’s at stake and that they can compete at a very high level.”
“>
