"I think that is what Luke brings. He is thorough." - Graeme McDowell praises Luke Donald as the ultimate measure of a Great Captain
LIV golfer Graeme McDowell praises Europe's Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald for his exceptionally amazing leadership at the biennial tournament. On the first day of the tournament on Friday, Team Europe won all of their foursome matches and took the lead in the game by five points at the end of the day.
In a recent article for The Telegraph, McDowell appreciated Donald saying he deserves credit for creating a great environment for the players. The former Ryder Cup player also mentioned that Donald's calm personality has helped the European team to bring an amazing show at the Ryder Cup on Friday.
Here is an excerpt from Graeme McDowell's article where he wrote about Luke Donald's captaincy:
"Luke deserves credit for that because he came into the role late but has clearly created a great environment for the players. From what I hear the two team rooms are very different. With lots of inspiring visuals, Luke has tried to really play on the European players’ emotions; quotes on the walls, pictures of Seve Ballesteros and iconic moments from Europe’s Ryder Cup past. That sort of thing. The US team room is much more muted.
"Luke creates balance, though, by being very calm and controlled himself. Cool Hand Luke. I saw a quote from Rory McIlroy in which he said how relaxed and prepared the players were feeling, and I think that is what Luke brings. He is thorough," he added.
On Friday, Jon Rahm paired up with Tyrrell Hatton and won his game against Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns by 4&3 while Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg registered a victory over Max Homa and Brian Harman by 4&3.
Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka also won their match and so did Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood. McIlroy paired up with Matt Fitzpatrick in four-ball and registered a 5&3 victory over Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa.
"Biggest honour of my career"- Graeme McDowell on being part of the Ryder Cup
McDowell has been a part of the European Ryder Cup team in the past. He played at the biennial tournament four times including being part of the winning team thrice. He has also been the vice-captain of the team twice.
However, as McDowell joined the Saudi circuit last year, he missed his chance to be a part of the prestigious competition in 2023. In an interview with The Telegraph, Graeme McDowell said playing for the European team at the Ryder Cup as the biggest honour of his career. He said:
"Representing Europe in the Ryder Cup – which I’ve been privileged to do four times as a player and twice as a vice-captain – has been the biggest honour of my career. Obviously I knew that joining LIV would potentially see me miss out on being in that team room this time and I accept that."
Noticeably, Brooks Koepka is the only LIV golfer playing at the Ryder Cup this week.