Luke Donald and Team Europe with the Ryder Cup

Luke Donald has dropped some clues to his Ryder Cup plans during a squad scouting day at Adare Manor.

A total of 15 European stars were spotted gathering at the County Limerick course on Monday, a year out from the 2027 Ryder Cup.

Lowry and Rahm will hope to be key stars for Europe at the next Ryder Cup
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Lowry and Rahm will hope to be key stars for Europe at the next Ryder CupCredit: Getty

Donald’s squad spent time on the range and played a round while sharing jokes and hugs.

Shane Lowry and Jon Rahm were spotted embracing on the practice facility just a day on from the former’s stunning Irish Open victory.

Lowry took the congratulations from everyone, taking time to swap pleasantries with Viktor Hovland and Tyrrell Hatton.

Matt Fitzpatrick sparked one of the biggest laughs of the day as he walked in a winning putt extra early on the 18th green while playing Sepp Straka. 

Spirits were high throughout the team but Rory McIlroy was the only big name not seen at Adare Manor.

The reason for his absence is unknown.

The scouting trip falls between the Irish Open and BMW PGA Championship, making it easy for the Europeans to meet up.

All of the players are teeing it up at at least one of the showpiece DP World Tour events as Donald looks to build camaraderie among his ranks early.

The three-time skipper has always gone the extra mile in his preparations and will no doubt have gathered plenty of intel from his players on course setup and condition.

As well as the players already mentioned, Ludvig Aberg, Tommy Fleetwood and Robert MacIntyre were in attendance, all of whom will be key parts of the side again.

Justin Rose, who will be 47 by the time the next Ryder Cup begins, is looking for another run at making the team and was in the warm-up session.

One of the Hojgaard twins has been in the last two European sides and both linked up with the rest of the squad.

Donald also dropped clues about who could make his team this time around.

Alex Noren was part of the victorious 2018 Ryder Cup side and joined the stars before he defends his BMW PGA Championship title at Wentworth this week.

Alex Fitzpatrick, brother of Matt, was there in what would be an intriguing all-family pairing option for Donald.

Kristoffer Reitan, Eugenio Chacarra and Angel Ayora have enjoyed fine seasons and also got the invite to link up.

Team Europe - Luke Donald (captain)

  • Rory McIlroy
  • Tommy Fleetwood
  • Ludvig Aberg
  • Matt Fitzpatrick
  • Viktor Hovland
  • Robert MacIntyre
  • Jon Rahm
  • Tyrrell Hatton
  • Shane Lowry
  • Justin Rose
  • Marco Penge
  • Kristoffer Reitan

Team USA - Jim Furyk (captain)

  • Scottie Scheffler
  • Cameron Young
  • Wyndham Clark
  • Bryson DeChambeau
  • Collin Morikawa
  • Chris Gotterup
  • Xander Schauffele
  • Justin Thomas
  • Jackson Koivun
  • Sam Burns
  • Russell Henley
  • Akshay Bhatia

As well as McIlroy not being spotted, other top Europeans like Aaron Rai, Matt Wallace, Marco Penge and Harry Hall were not seen in Limerick.

England’s Joe Dean, who won the British Masters recently, plus Northern Ireland’s in-form Tom McKibbin also seemingly missed out on the trip.

The 2027 Ryder Cup is being held at Adare Manor from September 17 to 19 next autumn.

Team Europe will be looking to make it three wins in a row following their victories at Marco Simone in 2023 and at Bethpage Black last year.

The qualification race to secure one of the six automatic places on the team started at the British Masters last month and will run until late August next year.

Donald will then confirm his six captain’s picks shortly after.