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• Luke Donald: Europe have work cut out to wrest Ryder Cup from ‘very strong’ USA

  European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald admits his team “have their work cut out” as they seek to wrest the trophy back from the United States.

  After a record 19-9 defeat at Whistling Straits in 2021, Donald has the unenviable task of trying to maintain the hosts’ 30-year unbeaten record on home soil.

  On paper the Americans have the superior team, with 10 of their 12 players currently in the world’s top 20, and even though Europe have three of the top four, Donald is aware of the challenge which awaits in Italy .

  “I know it’s going to be a difficult next few days, it really is. The US are very strong. We know that,” he said at a press conference at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome.

  “We are coming off our worst defeat ever in a Ryder Cup. US players are strong, high up in the world rankings and they have some great partnerships and have had a lot of success.

  “We have our work cut out but as captain you have to be confident. I certainly have a lot of belief in my team and you have to have belief that you’re going to get them into a place where they are going to be successful.”

  Marco Simone is likely to prove a testing layout for both teams due to the weather forecast for the week – temperatures are expected to hit 29 degrees Celsius over the three days – and the undulations and big elevation changes around the course.

  Donald has not ruled out some of his players featuring in all five sessions but is more confident that no-one, not even rookies Ludvig Aberg, Robert MacIntyre, Sepp Straka and Nicolai Hojgaard, will be left on the bench until Sunday’s singles.

  “In terms of playing five, I think there’s some guys that certainly could do that, and we have done that in the past. This is a very tiring, taxing golf course,” he added.

  “It’s a long build-up so I’m wary of some of that. I’ll certainly be considering that but it’s not out of the question that some people might play five.

  “I very much doubt that someone wouldn’t play until the Sunday singles.”

  Unusually Donald has opted to begin the first two days with the foursomes format and leave the fourballs until the afternoon.

  While the Americans traditionally pick that option when it is their honour, it is the first time since 1993, the last time Europe lost on home soil, that it will be played that way on this side of the Atlantic.

  “It’s pretty simple really. We feel like as a team, statistically we are stronger in foursomes within our team than we would be in fourballs,” said Donald.

  “Why not get off to a fast start? That’s it.”

  USA captain Zach Johnson was asked whether he had second thoughts about his captain’s picks after the overlooked Bryson DeChambeau won his second LIV event in successive months on Sunday.

  Brooks Koepka is the only player from the Saudi breakaway league to feature in the team having qualified by virtue of his performances in majors after winning the US PGA Championship and finishing second in the Masters.

  On Sunday DeChambeau said it would have been “nice to have a call” but Johnson has freely admitted he paid no attention to the LIV Golf tour and so the 30-year-old was never on his radar, finishing 54th on USA’s qualifying list.

  “We have a points system within the PGA of America, within the Ryder Cup USA. It’s pretty evident how you garner points and which tournaments can accumulate points,” said Johnson.

  “When it got down towards the end of the process, it was the top 20, the top 25 guys in that point system that I felt like had the merit and should have my full attention.”

  Johnson also confirmed there would be no morale-boosting last-minute visit from Tiger Woods, who is still recovering from ankle surgery, despite him being part of the process this year and the 15-time major winner would be relegated to the role of cheerleader from back home.

  “No, Tiger will not be joining us in Italy. He’s got a lot on his plate. As far as communicating with him, we have up to this point but he understands that now that our feet are on the ground, it’s probably kind of best that we navigate this ourselves,” said the USA captain.

  “At this point it’s more encouragement on his side, whether he’s texting the guys or texting the vice-captains and captains, he’s there to encourage because he’s very invested in what we do year-in and year-out with Team USA.

  “We are going to utilise his knowledge and his wisdom, his candour and his passion the best we can but when it comes to the week of the tournament, if you’re not in on it and inside the team room, inside the ropes, shoulder-to-shoulder with these guys, it’s not fair to ask him questions.

  “At the same time, I don’t know if that’s proper and I think he would understand completely.”

• Europe retain Solheim Cup as Carlota Ciganda stars in dramatic draw with US

  Home favourite Carlota Ciganda played a starring role as Europe retained the Solheim Cup after a thrilling 14-14 draw with the United States, the first in the biennial contest’s history.

  Trailing 4-0 after the opening foursomes, Suzann Pettersen’s side rallied magnificently at Finca Cortesin and it fittingly fell to Spanish star Ciganda to ensure the trophy would remain in Europe with her fourth win from four matches.

  With Ciganda pegged back to all square on the 15th against Nelly Korda, the United States were briefly on course for an outright win due to the status of the remaining matches.

  However, Ciganda then hit a stunning approach to the 16th to set up a winning birdie and, after Maja Stark had beaten US Open champion Allisen Corpuz to make it 13-13, repeated the feat on the 17th to ensure Europe would at least retain the trophy.

  Emily Pedersen still had an outside chance to halve her match with Lexi Thompson and secure outright victory, but Thompson calmly holed from 10 feet for par on the 17th to close out a 2&1 win.

  “I’m so happy just to do this for Suzann, for Spain, I’m just so proud,” Ciganda told Sky Sports.

  “When I saw Suzann on 16 she told me a couple of things and I was like, ‘I’m just going to do this for her’, because I love her and she deserves this. I love my team, I love Europe, I love Spain, I love Solheim Cups.

  “It’s been a great week and I’m just so happy to be here right now.”

• Sepp Straka says place on Europe’s Ryder Cup team continues ‘incredible ride’

  His accent is as American as his caddie, but Sepp Straka believes he has gone the extra mile – thousands of them in fact – to prove his dedication to Europe’s Ryder Cup team.

  Straka was asked to compete in the Hero Cup in Abu Dhabi in January, a team event between Continental Europe and Great Britain and Ireland which it was felt necessary to revive in the wake of 2021’s record Ryder Cup defeat.

  The only problem was that the Austrian was contesting the Sentry Tournament of Champions the week beforehand in Hawaii, which meant undertaking an epic journey across 14 time zones.

  “Francesco (Molinari, captain of Continental Europe) was the first person to talk to me about the trip,” Straka told the PA news agency.

  “My first reaction was that I don’t know if I’ll make it because I don’t think that I can get there.

  “Then I looked into the flights a little deeper and realised that I could make it for the Tuesday and it didn’t start until the Friday.

  “Once I realised I could get there in time to prepare then I wanted to make the trip because it was huge in terms of getting to Rome and also getting comfortable playing team golf. I think that is something we don’t get to do a lot.

  “I’ve always wanted to be a part of it. I kind of put myself in a place last year for consideration for the team and I knew that would show my commitment.

  “From there on, I could focus on just trying to play my best golf and put my name out there.”

  Straka won two points from his four matches in the Hero Cup, including a foursomes victory over Ryder Cup team-mates Shane Lowry and Tyrrell Hatton, but then missed the cut in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and Dubai Desert Classic.

  However, he claimed his second PGA Tour title in the John Deere Classic in July and two weeks later finished joint second in the Open at Royal Liverpool, his second top 10 in a major in 2023.

  Such performances meant Europe captain Luke Donald felt he “couldn’t leave” Straka off his team and duly gave him a wild card, making Straka the second Austrian after Bernd Wiesberger to play in the contest.

  “It’s been an incredible ride,” said Straka, whose family moved from Vienna to Georgia when he was 14  – he went on to play on the University of Georgia with twin brother Sam.

  “Kind of all started by winning the Honda (Classic) last season and thankfully I was able to ride that and gain confidence and just keep improving my golf game.

  “I feel like it’s in a place where I give myself a lot more chances now than did I early in my career and yeah, it’s been an incredible ride the last few years.”

  As for having a southern accent and an American caddie in Duane “Dewey” Bock, Straka joked: “I was thinking about maybe getting a translator. Maybe my brother can translate for me for the week just so we don’t have to hear it.

  “Dewey is a great caddie. He’s been awesome to have on the bag and it’s helped me so much over the last few months.

  “He is definitely red, white and blue. A bunch of the European caddies have been giving him crap about having a US yardage book cover but he’s already changed that. We’re working on him.

  “He’s a professional. He’ll do his best job that he can and it will be great.”