Donald: I know how it feels to miss out
Europe’s captain experienced bitter rejection as a player but says he is ready to make the big Ryder Cup calls this time
Paul Casey has a story that may strike fear into the hearts of all of those Ryder Cup wannabes who think they are in line for a wild card for next month’s match in Rome. Contrary to Luke Donald’s reputation as an unassuming Englishman, the Europe captain can be downright ruthless when it comes to selection.
“It was 2005, the year after Luke and I had won the World Cup in Seville,” Casey tells Telegraph Sport. “I had holed a very nervy four-footer on the 18th for us to win after a final round when my putter had never been so hot. It was great for us, a pair of dreamy-eyed youngsters, wrapped in our nation’s flag. We loved it.” They hugged and they drank and they vowed to defend their crown 12 months later in the Algarve. And then Donald dropped Casey.
“I was shocked,” Casey says. “As the top-ranked Englishman, Luke had the choice who he’d pick as his partner and well, because of what we’d gone through, I just assumed… But Luke called and said he was picking David Howell instead.
“Howeller was zooming up the rankings and was in better form than me, but I can’t pretend I wasn’t gutted. The thing is Luke just wanted to give England the best chance. That was his priority and you can’t really fault that. I think they finished second.”
A decade later, Donald experienced his own rejection, from a captain with whom he had enjoyed emotional scenes. When Donald made his Ryder Cup debut in 2004 – a few months before Seville – his first partner was Paul Mcginley, as Europe cruised to a record away success in Detroit.
Again, the duo hugged and drank, but there was Mcginley, a few weeks before Gleneagles and the 2014 Ryder Cup, telling his old hombre that sorry, but he was missing out on a pick.
Donald was but a few years removed from being world No1, was higher in the rankings than the three who were chosen – Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Stephen Gallacher – and could boast a tremendous record in the biennial competition. He had played four matches, been on the triumphant team each time and compiled a winning individual record [70 per cent] only bettered by Poulter and Arnold
Palmer for anyone who had played 15 games or more.
“It hit me * hard, I was devastated and, no, I didn’t understand it,” Donald told Telegraph Sport earlier this year. “If I can be honest, I still believe Paul got it wrong.
“But Paul only did it because he thought it was the right thing to do in terms of winning and Europe did win, pretty comfortably, that year. So you can’t fault him and of course, I realised it was not personal.
“Whoever I pick, and whoever just misses out, I will assure them the same. It’s the bad part of the job, but can be the most important part of the job, and I will not take it lightly. Anything but, considering what I went through.”
Donald will tread lightly in his spikes before he unveils his six wild cards next Monday, because he is aware he will be treading on people’s dreams.
“I know how badly I took it,” he said. “I had probably unwisely gone down a new path with my swing, looking for more length and consistency, and there were injuries and I am not blaming not being picked for my downturn [as he fell outside the world’s top 400 by the time of the next home Ryder Cup] but it was a blow to the confidence and was an upset that was difficult to bounce back from. You think of yourself in a certain way and, like I said, I’d thought I had enough in the bank after 2012.”
There would have been no miracle at Medinah without Donald. Europe were 10-4 down on the Saturday afternoon, and while Poulter was birdieing the last five to ensure he and Rory Mcilroy beat Jason Dufner and this year’s United States captain Zach Johnson to hand Europe a lifeline, Donald was throwing out his own rubber ring. He followed up Tiger Woods’s strike to four feet on the 17th, by sticking a seven iron to two feet on the par three.
“No, I wouldn’t have believed that would be it for me as a Europe player,” he said. “But the Ryder Cup is not about me or any individual. I found that out the hard way if you like. I’ll understand how the guys who don’t get in will feel and I will identify with it. But I am ready to make the big calls.”
In truth, the bombshells have been limited because of the LIV golfers resigning en masse. Instead, all Donald has to concern himself are the players eligible and come Sunday at the European Masters, which starts in Switzerland today, Robert Macintyre can confirm his place among the automatic qualifiers.
Five others at the Crans-sursierre finale could oust the Scot at the death.
Macintyre looks comfortable and will surely join Mcilroy, Rahm, Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Matt Fitzpatrick, Shane Lowy, Justin Rose and Sepp Straka on the plane. Poland’s Adrian Meronk should be another and talented rookie Ludvig Aberg, who has only played in nine events since enlisting in the professional ranks, has emerged as the potential bolter.
Donald will be brave if he has to be. And Casey will testify he has the capacity to be ruthless as well.