“Not tricky at all” - Luke Donald playfully addresses reporter's 'sleeping with the enemy' comment owing to his American wife
Like everyone else involved in the Ryder Cup, which begins on Friday, September 29, Luke Donald is in the spotlight of the golf world. Fans and media continue to scrutinize every detail of the Team Europe captain's life and actions. On Thursday, September 28, it was Donald's wife that took mainstage.
It is well known who Luke Donald's wife is, where she is from and what she does for a living. But it wasn't until this Thursday's press conference that Donald was asked about her.
A reporter cheekily informed Luke Donald that after exhaustive research, they had discovered that his wife is American and questioned her loyalties, saying:
"The phrase 'sleeping with the enemy' comes to mind," said the reporter, no doubt looking for a headline from the European captain.
The Team Europe captain replied in all seriousness, telling NUCLR GOLF:
"No trickie at all. My wife's parents [were] bornnin Greece. She has a lot of strong European roots, and [is] my number one fan. There's quite a few guys on our team that have a U.S. wives. It's really not a problem. They are 100% behind us."
Luke Donald is married to Diane Antonopoulos, who was born on the island of Santorini, Greece, to Greek parents. She was raised in Chicago, USA, after immigrating there with her family. Naturally, her American identity is strongly influenced by her European roots.
As mentioned by Donald, several players on both teams are married to women originating from their opponent's half of the world. Rory McIlroy to Erica Stoll, Jon Rahm to Kelley Cahill and Sepp Straka to Paige Dean. Matt Fitzpatrick, meanwhile, is engaged to fellow American Katherine Gaal.
Luke Donald's pairings for the first foursomes
The pairings for the start of the 2023 Ryder Cup were announced by both captains on Thursday. Luke Donald and Zach Johnson announced their respective decisions at the event's opening conference.
The European captain decided to start with Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton against Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns. Rookie sensation Ludvig Aberg will make his debut early in the event, teaming up with Viktor Hovland to take on Max Homa and Brian Harman.
Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka will take on Rickie Fowler and Collin Morikawa. In the final round, Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood will take on Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay.
In this first round, the biggest question marks are on the American side. Zach Johnson has decided to forgo a historic duo like Justin Thomas - Jordan Spieth, as well as one of his most prominent players, Brooks Koepka.
On the European side, everything looks a little more according to the forecasts. The duos of Hovland-Aberg and McIlroy-Fleetwood will certainly be fan favourites.