Luke Donald builds trust with future European Ryder Cup team

Luke Donald isn't wasting time getting potential members of the 2027 European Ryder Cup team together at Adare Manor.

As first reported by The Scotsman's Martin Dempster, Donald, who returns as Team Europe's captain for a third tour of duty, has arranged for 16 players to gather at the 2027 Ryder Cup venue following this week's Amgen Irish Open at Trump International Golf Links at Doonbeg, which is around 60 miles from Adare Manor.

"It's always good to see the guys and just check in. I haven't played a lot this year. So much more ideal having those sort of face-to-face conversations, some have dinners, just catch up," Donald said on Wednesday during a press conference ahead of the DP World Tour event. "I think that communication, that chat, just is beneficial in the long run. It creates some good relationships and good trust."

Donald noted that he was "keeping an eye on a bunch of players," and confirmed that four potential rookies have been invited to the team building exercise: Alex Fitzpatrick and Kristoffer Reitan, who both won on the PGA Tour season this season and are the top candidates for PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, and a pair of Spaniards in Eugenio Chacarra, a two-time winner on the DP World Tour, and promising 21-year-old bomber Angel Ayora, who recorded 10 top-10 finishes as a DP World Tour rookie.

The players participating in the gathering will make their way to Wentworth in England afterwards to prep for the BMW PGA Championship next week.

But first Donald is going to get a closer look this week at the younger Fitzpatrick as well as 23-year-old Northern Irishman Tom McKibbin. It's no accident he is paired with them in the first two rounds of the Irish Open.

"One of the privileges is I do tend to, most weeks when I'm playing over here, get to choose my pairings. I think Alex Fitzpatrick, obviously speaks for itself how well he's done off the back of his win with his brother at Zurich. He's really kicked on amazingly well, showing that his game holds up against some of the very best on the U.S. tour. Tremendous strong finish at the Tour Championship," Donald said. "Tom is someone I've played a couple times with before. Certainly I think he played quite well a couple weeks ago at the British Masters. Statistically, I think he's starting to show some improvement. So I'm looking forward to seeing his game as well."

Asked about LIV's bankruptcy and how it could effect qualifying for the Euro side, Donald said, "there's still some uncertainty. I think time will tell to see where those guys land. Obviously very consistent through my captaincy that you want your best players available, and you want them playing as many counting events as possible.

"I think you set your qualification system to try and determine who those top six guys are, and the more someone like a Jon or Tyrrell, if they are playing more events on the DP World Tour, they are going to have a better opportunity to fill one of those top six. So that's obviously great."