BETFRED BRITISH MASTERS HOSTED BY SIR NICK FALDO

August 20, 2025

Luke Donald

The Belfry Hotel & Resort

Quick Quotes

Q. What are your memories of watching this event growing up?

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I mean, obviously the first Ryder Cup here in '85, I was probably just starting with the game. So I probably didn't understand what the Ryder Cup was.

But '87 I started to watch it at Muirfield, and then came back here another three times. Many good memories of watching some iconic moments in Ryder Cups at this very course, down there on the 18th hole. So, yeah, very special to be here because of that.

Q. Obviously we can't avoid the Ryder Cup question, points race finishes here. How pleased are you with the way the team is shaping up at the moment?

LUKE DONALD: I am very pleased. Again, it looks like it's going to be a good group of those guys from Rome that are probably going to play in this one as well. The guys, the top five who have already qualified all were in Rome. There's a bunch of other guys that are playing very well, high up on the points list. So very happy with the way things are going.

Q. On that, we know some of those made the trip over here to play this week, last chance to try and get in. How much are you going to be juggling playing this event on its merits but also keeping an eye on those who want to make that push?

LUKE DONALD: Of course. And every Ryder Cup there's always a push by some people that have a good opportunity to claim their place on Ryder Cup team.

It's a little bit of a headache for me sometimes, but a good headache. Again, it's the more of options that we have for those picks, the better it is, really.

Q. You mentioned just behind you, the 18th, many Ryder Cup moments, you were involved in the Legends match yesterday. How nice was it to be amongst some of the icons of the European teams of old?

LUKE DONALD: It's just a nice tip of the cap to these guys 40 years ago. The '80s was just an amazing era for European golf. And to see those four come back and have fun and joke on the course and remember some of those stories was fun for me. I even heard some stories that I've never heard before. So that was very, very cool.

Q. This week also marks the beginning of the back nine swing on the (indiscernible). We know what's at stake with the Ryder Cup on the horizon, but how do these next sort of events look for you?

LUKE DONALD: Well, I'm playing this week. I'm playing Irish, I'm playing Wentworth, and then obviously the Ryder Cup.

And then, to be honest, after that, I'm not quite sure. So hopefully I'll be in a really good mood, and I'll decide what I'm doing after that.

This is a great way to finish the Race to Dubai, finishing in Dubai. So starting off this week is a nice start to it.

Q. We saw you out there this morning, plenty of big crowds. What's your impressions of The Belfry this year and how they set it up ahead of tomorrow?

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, it's tremendously green, to be honest, with all the great weather and dry weather we've had.

The course is in great shape. Again, not an easy track. It's fiddly off the tee. It's quite tight. But the greens are holding. So I think you'll see a mixture of some good scores and some birdies, and a few bad scores because it's a tricky golf course.

Q. You're no stranger to this venue. A stretch of holes always catches your eye, but what maybe does this year for this outing?

LUKE DONALD: Well, 10 and 18 are obviously the famous holes. But it's just a lot of good holes out there, some tough par 3s. As I said, it's going to be a good test.