“Tad early!!!” – Fans react to Rory McIlroy and rest of Luke Donald's Team Europe arriving in Rome ahead of the Ryder Cup
The 2023 European Ryder Cup team arrived in Rome ahead of the start of the competition. The team is trying their best not to miss an opportunity to win on home soil.
This year the team is led by Luke Donald and consists of some of the top-ranked golfers playing on the DP World Tour. Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland, Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, Robert MacIntyre and Matt Fitzpatrick auto-qualified for the team while the remaining six members, including Shane Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood, Ludvig Aberg, Justin Rose, Nicolai Hojgaard and Sepp Straka were picked up by the captain.
Ryder Cup Europe shared a video of the arrival of the team on its X account with a caption saying:
"Team Europe arrive at @marcosimonegolf."
Fans jumped into the comments section to say:
"Tad early!!!"
Here are some more fan reactions:
Team Europe will be looking to win the seventh consecutive Ryder Cup on their home soil this year.
Rory McIlroy arrived at the venue after having a disappointing performance at the Irish Open last week but he will be looking forward to improving his game ahead of the Ryder Cup. He finished 16th at the Iris Open last week. Hatton missed the cut at last week's event.
Jon Rahm, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood and Viktor Hovland have been in good form and Ryder Cup rookie Nicolai Hogjaard and Robert MacIntyre won an event at the venue.
"It is looking amazing" - European team captain Luke Donald talks about the Ryder Cup venue
European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald opened up about the Marco Simone Golf Course, which will be hosting the biennial tournament this year.
In his interview with the media, Donald said that the venue looks amazing. He appreciated the green staff for their great work in maintaining the golf course.
Speaking about the venue, Donald said (via SkySports):
"It [Marco Simone GC] is looking amazing. The green staff have done an amazing job. It has not been an easy summer with the hot weather they've had, but the course is impeccable. The rough is nice and thick and the course is looking great. I'm really with how they've done and how they presented it.
"There's a lot of emotions going around and a lot of anticipation, energy and excitement. The guys that haven't played a Ryder Cup before have seen now how week is going to be, so there's a lot of great energy there."
He also spoke about the practice round saying:
"It was great to get all the guys together. It was really important and it's the first time we've had a practice trip, so to get the guys in the same team room, out on the golf course and seeing the course was an important step."
The 2023 Ryder Cup is scheduled to start on September 29 and will have its final on Sunday, October 1.