Ryder Cup: Team Europe captain Luke Donald backs his pairings as competition tees off

Team Europe’s Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald said what he has seen in practice this week has reinforced the plans he had in mind from the outset in terms of his pairings.

He has urged his “fearless” players to write their own history after showing faith in two of his rookies for the opening session in Rome.

While the pairings of Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton and Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood came as no surprise, Donald also handed Ludvig Aberg and Sepp Straka an early taste of the action at Marco Simone.

“They’re extremely good golfers. The atmosphere in the team room is fantastic. Everyone is in good spirits,” the captain said.