AMGEN IRISH OPEN

September 9, 2026

Luke Donald

Trump International Golf Links & Hotel

Press Conference

BRIONY CARLYON: Delighted to welcome Luke Donald here in the Amgen Irish Open.

Luke, you've just played the Pro-Am there, 18 holes, seen the golf course, can you give us your thoughts on the Doonbeg layout this week?

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I got in Monday morning. Played a few holes Monday. It was quite different weather than today. I think it's a beautifully conditioned links golf course. If you get a nice day like today, not much wind, soft greens, there's definitely some opportunities.

But if the wind picks up and you get a little bit of rain, it's going to be a challenge. Typical links where sort of the weather depicts how the course is going to play.

Q. Two Walker Cup appearances and six Ryder Cup appearances as a player and manager, it's quite an extraordinary record and one I'm sure you're hoping to keep intact. Can you talk about your reflections on the Walker Cup from the weekend?

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I was glued to the TV. I was still at home. I was traveling over that evening to here. But glued to the TV. Just shows how special those match-play events are. They create a little bit of a different feel. The intricacies of match play and the momentum shifts and everything that goes along with it.

I think obviously my personal experiences at Walker Cup were amazing. I had a great captain in Peter McEvoy. We were able to win both home and away. Enjoyed those teams, really did. I'm sure the lads had plenty of fun in Lahinch on Sunday night. Showed great belief to stick with it after a tough morning, and they kept the energy and the vibe up.

You know, never gave up. Just kept battling to the end. I think once that shift of momentum started happening at the end, the crowd really got behind them, as well, and just fun to watch as a spectator and a fan of golf.

Q. Would you like to keep the record intact?

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, would love to keep that intact. The match play in the Ryder Cup and Walker Cup have been kind to me. Only once as a vice captain experienced a loss and didn't enjoy that one. Hopefully that winning feeling continues.

Q. Pádraig Harrington is playing his 31st consecutive Irish Open, which breaks the record of 30 set by Seve in the Spanish Open. You obviously brought him in as a vice captain for your team next year. Can you talk about Pádraig as a player and also what he brings to your backroom team?

LUKE DONALD: I mean, Pádraig, where do you start, as a player? Just the love of the game you feel when you see him. He's continuing wanting to find ways to improve, to go out there. He still will tee up on Thursday thinking he has a chance to win. He's the eternal optimist. He thinks outside the box. I think some of those characteristics as a golfer translate to what I see him helping with me as a vice captain.

I think you have different personalities as vice captains, and that's important. You have different viewpoints and certainly Pádraig is not shy of giving his view. I appreciate that. And I want your vice captains to challenge you and make you think of different things and different angles, and Pádraig is very good at that.

Q. What benefits if any are there to having so many of your Ryder Cup Team here this week?

LUKE DONALD: Well, it's always good to see the guys and just check in. I haven't played a lot this year. So much more ideal having those sort of face-to-face conversations, some have dinners, just catch up. I think that communication, that chat, just is beneficial in the long run. It creates some good relationships and good trust.

Q. Just interested to know your personal aspirations at this stage of your career as a player, you obviously dedicated the past three or four years to the captaincy role, and that comes with personal sacrifice, I guess. What do you want to achieve still individually in the sport? Is it a case of on the back burner until maybe turning 50 and trying to clean up on the Champions Tour, Legends Tour, anything like that??

LUKE DONALD: For sure. Again, I think all golfers are a little bit optimistic. It's very hard to change expectations sometimes. So even when I tee up this week, I feel like I have the opportunity to go out there and have a good finish. I don't think I have the opportunity to win. I've got to be realistic that my results certainly over the last couple years haven't been that good.

I do have an eye, obviously when I play, there's a few different reasons. One, I think it's good to be around the guys and see them and for that reason but also, I wanted to continue to stay a little bit sharp competitively because, you know, I do turn 50 in about 16 months. So I'd love to go into the Champions Tour, having played some events and have that sharpness of competition.

Yeah, I'm optimistic about certain parts of my game. There are a few parts of my game that need a little bit of work but I still love working at it. I love trying to figure it out. I love trying to not master this game, it's almost impossible to do that but to see improvements and enjoy those.

Q. Looking at the tee times, should we be reading anything into you playing with Tom McKibbin and Alex Fitzpatrick?

LUKE DONALD: One of the privileges is I do tend to, most weeks when I'm playing over here, get to choose my pairings. I think Alex Fitzpatrick, obviously speaks for itself how well he's done off the back of his win with his brother at Zurich. He's really kicked on amazingly well, showing that his game holds up against some of the very best on the U.S. tour. Tremendous strong finish at THE TOUR Championship.

Tom is someone I've played a couple times with before. Certainly I think he played quite well a couple weeks ago at the British Masters. Statistically, I think he's starting to show some improvement. So I'm looking forward to seeing his game as well.

Q. Half the players on the team last time, how many are going to be at Adare for your gathering?

LUKE DONALD: There's two guys -- sorry, ask the question?

Q. Guys who are not current Ryder Cup players --

LUKE DONALD: There's three rookies, would have been Alex, Kris and Eugenio -- four, and Ayora.

Q. Obviously you've had to deal with some thorny issues from LIV Golf throughout your time as the captain and they filed for bankruptcy yesterday. How much are you concerning yourself with the backdrop of that? You have some LIV players that are crucial members of your team and also it's been reported that the DP World Tour is up likely to grant releases next season. What's your perspective on that situation for you at the moment and looking ahead to Adare with that in mind?

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I think there's still some uncertainty. I think time will tell to see where those guys land. Obviously very consistent through my captaincy that you want your best players available, and you want them playing as many counting events as possible.

I think you set your qualification system to try and determine who those top six guys are, and the more someone like a Jon or Tyrrell, if they are playing more events on the DP World Tour, they are going to have a better opportunity to fill one of those top six. So that's obviously great.

If not, we'll see what happens. But I don't really determine their schedules or where they play. But I know a lot of these guys, the Ryder Cup is high up on their priority list. So I'm sure they will be thinking about that.