Europe’s Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald should ‘go with his gut feeling’ over data when it comes to selecting pairings against Team USA at Bethpage Black next week.
That’s the opinion of Rugby World Cup-winning head coach Sir Clive Woodward, who says Donald has picked a ‘strong side’ for what should be an ‘amazing event’.
Donald steered Team Europe to victory over the Americans in Rome two years ago – and is hoping to secure back-to-back wins on US soil during the 2025 Ryder Cup, which takes place in New York from September 26-28.
Who is in the 12-man European team vs Team USA?
Rory McIlroy, Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Rasmus Højgaard, Tyrrell Hatton, Shane Lowry, Sepp Straka, Ludvig Åberg, Viktor Hovland, Matt Fitzpatrick, Jon Rahm.
Woodward told the Sky Sports Golf podcast: “I think we’ve got a really strong side and I think we’ve got good characters as well.
“I can see them all looking forward to going there and having a bit of a moment with the crowd.
Tough characters
“We’ve got some tough characters there – do you pair two strong ones up together or do you put your strong characters with the not quite so strong characters?
“If anything was to happen during a round of golf, which happened last time with the caddie or with the crowd saying, you need the tough guy there.
“I think that the crowd also respect our team. They know we’ve got some tough characters out there, winners, so if you’re facing up to McIlroy or Rahm or these guys then they’re not going to back off it.
“This is going to be an amazing event.”
Europe’s 16.5-11.5 victory in Rome was forged on successful pairings with the right chemistry and balance.
And Woodward believes Europe have the edge having Donald as captain, with Team USA skipper Keegan Bradley having home advantage – but not the same levels of experience.
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In a good position
The former England head coach said: “Between the two captains, we’re a bit ahead there and he’s ahead of Keegan Bradley. We’re in a really good position.
“It was just fascinating when they won two years ago, they were still celebrating and they were shouting two more years, two more years.
“If you’re the coach, if you’re Luke, you’ll never admit it, but that would be a massive buzz.
“You know the team’s right behind you. Because you’ve got to make big calls, you’ve got to make calls that are not going to be popular with all the team.
“That’s when you’re going to know you’ve got a good team. Everyone takes it on board – it’s a team game.”
Follow your gut feeling
He added on the importance of pairing selections: “Data is really important but it’s got to reinforce your gut feeling.
“I still absolutely believe as the head coach, your brain, you’ve got to use your common sense or your knowledge.
“If the data backs that up, then big, big tick. But, if you and the data cross and say, ‘actually, that doesn’t make sense to me’, you’ve still got to go with your own gut feeling. That’s really important.
“I’d always go with my decision at the end, but I listened to other people and all the data.”
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