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August 26, 2026

Luke Donald

The Belfry Hotel & Resort

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good morning, delighted to be joined by European Ryder Cup Captain Luke Donald.

Luke, you'll be teeing it up at The Belfry for the third consecutive year. How much are you looking forward to playing on home soil?

LUKE DONALD: I think we always enjoyed, growing up on these shores, coming back home and playing in front of great crowds. Obviously The Belfry has some iconic, memorable stories for me as a kid, watching Ryder Cups, obviously, and quite relevant to how I find my position as cap taken now.

I think obviously it's the kickoff again for another qualification for the Ryder Cup at Adare next year, and looking forward to obviously playing myself again.

I haven't played much this year but looking forward to dusting off the clubs and seeing how I do. But obviously being back here and seeing the qualification kick off is fun. It kind of makes everything feel like we're getting closer again to Adare next year.

THE MODERATOR: And you mentioned Adare, starting the qualification process for the Ryder Cup. How much are you looking forward to players compete for a spot on Team Europe over the next 12 months?

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, of course I am. I think whenever qualification period kicks in, especially as I remember as a player, you know, it's sort of like almost like a reset. You're a different focus, different goals. You suddenly become -- have something else to play for week-in, week-out, not just the event. I know the guys will be looking forward to getting started, earning points and trying to make that team.

Q. I wanted to ask you about Pádraig Harrington as vice captain, what do you think he'll bring to the team?

LUKE DONALD: Certainly an Irish connection. He's extremely popular with the Irish and has a good relationship with JP McManus, as well, who owns and runs Adare.

I think for me as a captain, you want lots of different personalities as vice captains. And you know, he's someone that really thinks outside the box. I think he's going to see things from different perspectives and give me different ideas, whether I listen to them or not is up to me.

But you know, I think you want someone to kind of challenge you, and I obviously enjoyed being a vice captain under Pádraig. He obviously knows how the Irish tick, and I think he'll be a popular figure during week, obviously but I think more that are anything, he gives me good insights, and I think that's very valuable to me.

Q. With the qualification process starting, will you make any changes to the points system?

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, we looked, again, at in qualification, we felt like for New York, we got it pretty right. There's been a few small little tweaks for this year but ultimately, you know, I think we were pretty happy with the six and six and the points break down and all of that.

Yeah, I'm happy with that.

Q. Silly question, given you're a two-time winning captain, but in some respect, do you think you might be under a little bit more pressure to try and deliver this result on the back of that?

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I mean, I've said that before, that the home Ryder Cups feel more pressure. There's an expectation that you're meant to win, and I think that brings it's own pressure, try and win three in a row brings even more pressure. Winning consistently in sport is just difficult, it really is.

I think the U.S. seemed very, very motivated, just reading between the lines, and listening to some of his press conferences and what he said, looking at changing qualification and bringing in new people like Paul Azinger to sort of get some guidance. You know, he has a big focus on the foursomes and correcting that.

So they seem they vote mated and looking at things from a different angle, and I think it's going to be a very challenging Ryder Cup, I honestly do. The home gives us a little bit of an advantage but the Americans are always very, very strong, and as I said, winning consistently in any sport, in anything, is very difficult.

So yeah, hopefully I'll be prepared for that.

Q. How important is it the balance between continuation and new blood in Ryder Cups going forward?

LUKE DONALD: I think that was unusual, New York. I don't think we had ever had so many pass from one Ryder Cup to the next, same DNA. It was almost the same team. It was almost like 11 and a half people that we had. Unusual, though. I expect there to be some new blood this time, and I think that's important.

We were all rookies at some point as players, and it's important to get out there, and especially being a home one, it's always easier a little bit for rookies to be at home. I expect the team to have a few new faces. I'm sure there will be still some of the guys there that they seem, so far, to be still playing at a high level, a lot of these guys.

But we'll see what happens in a year. A lot can change.

Q. How impressive has it been seeing Bob, how his life has change, becoming a dad and playing in those signature events next year which can help get on the Ryder Cup Team?

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, obviously for a player that's playing over there, to understand their schedule is nice. You know, someone who won't make the Top-50, we'll have a few more decisions to make and it will be a little bit more challenging.

Bob, nice little improvement from Memphis. I know he's had a little bit of a struggle with his knee but I saw improvement, and to obviously play so well on Sunday just kind of shows the character of Bob, his grit. When he sees something ahead of him, that he can get to, he seems very motivated. He's a very accomplished player and he's proven that. I think, I hope, some is of his experience in Ryder Cups has helped him on the road the last few years.

Q. On the qualification, when guys are playing well through the year, are you in conversation at all?

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I'm constantly watching results week-in and week-out. Playing this week with Eugenio Chacarra. Playing with Oliver Lindell. Not played with Oliver before. He's been very, very consistent over the last year. I haven't met him yet but looking forward to getting to know him better the next two rounds.

Eugenio I've played with before and he's proven he can win out here on the DP World Tour, and that's a great skill. I'm always looking at these players and in communication with them, and if I think they are coming into where they have enough form for being a potential Ryder Cup player, then, yeah, I'm reaching out to them.

Q. On the DP World Tour more generally, a lot of changes coming up at the top level of golf over in the state and things like that. Where do you see the DP World Tour, and what position do you want the Tour to come out?

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I think there's a strong relationship right now with the PGA TOUR. Obviously the DP World Tour are always focused kind of from this time period until the end of the year, I think that's a period where the U.S., the top players aren't playing as much, and they can really lean into making some of the National Opens really strong here.

I saw a bit of what Brian Rolapp was saying yesterday, and seems like they have a big interest in continuing that relationship and maybe bringing some opportunities for some of their top players to play in fall if they are not playing. That's only going to strengthen this tour, and I think that's a good thing.

Q. How closely are you following LIV developments? Obviously there's a lot of uncertainty about their future and a lot of speculation about players coming back to this tour and also that this tour is going to tighten the screws over potential fines for players if they do stay at LIV and that could have Ryder Cup implication.

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, certainly could. Again, I'm not involved with those policy decisions. The Tour have to do what they think is best for protecting their tour, and I've always kind of fallen in line with that.

Obviously in communication, and if that affects me, I'm going to have some chats with Guy and just try and figure a way to get these players to try and be eligible. And that's taking personal conversations in the past with me and some of the players, as well.

I think you used the word "certainty," and there's so much uncertainty right now. Nobody knows what the future is. It looks like if LIV continues, it will be quite different, potentially, with some players leaving. The Tour is just saying to the players, you just can't plan on having those conditional releases right now because of the uncertainty. I think that's pretty fair, and seems sensible from their part.