Luke Donald will unleash ‘fire’ on the US this morning by sending out the hot-tempered pairing of Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton to get the 44th Ryder Cup underway in Rome
- Captain Donald of Europe will ‘unleash fire by pairing Rahm and Hatton together’
- He believes Rahm will benefit from playing alongside someone with a “similar passion.”
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The European captain has gambled on bringing together two of golf’s most volcanic temperaments in the opening match against world champion Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns.
Luke Donald, who has deployed Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood in the anchor role against Patrick Cantlay and who is really concerned with him. Tyrrell really fits into that picture.’
Donald has also made an exciting move on 23-year-old Swedish phenomenon Ludvig Aberg, pairing him with Viktor Hovland in the second match just four months after turning pro.
They face Max Homa and Open champion Brian Harman, while Aberg’s fellow rookie Sepp Straka teams up with Shane Lowry to take on Rickie Fowler and Collin Morikawa.
When asked if he would field twelve ‘gladiators’ in Rome, Donald said: ‘I would say they are very fearless.
Luke Donald has revealed he plans to unleash ‘fire’ on the US with his latest Ryder Cup duo
He believes Jon Rahm will benefit from a “playing partner with a similar kind of fire and passion”
He continued to say Tyrrell Hatton ‘really fits that bill’ as Europe prepares for Ryder Cup action
“They are extremely good golfers. The atmosphere in the team room is fantastic. Everyone is in a good mood.
‘It’s been an amazing journey. I couldn’t be more excited and happy that these 12 boys got out and enjoyed it this week.
‘As captain it is a more stressful job, but I am enthusiastic. I’m glad the boys are taking it all in, enjoying it and trying to make their own history this week.”
If there was a surprise from Zach Johnson’s selections, it came from his decision not to use the successful combination of Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas in the first session.
He also benched Brooks Koepka, whose name was booed by elements of a typically partisan crowd that attended Thursday night’s opening ceremony.
Johnson said, “I have the utmost confidence in Jordan and Justin. I know we’re talking about a great tandem, but it’s a situation where it’s not about their form. They play great. So it’s actually about analyzing the five sessions.’
From a European perspective, Donald has left Justin Rose, Matt Fitzpatrick, Bob MacIntyre and Nicolai Hojgaard behind him. Donald later showed his hand by confirming that they would all feature in the Friday Fourballs.