European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald says Jon Rahm knows exactly what the deal is if he wants to play at Bethpage

Luke Donald sat down with us at the Belfry to look forward to the year ahead planning for the 2025 Ryder Cup

Luke Donald had a lot to say ahead of the British Masters about the new qualification criteria for the Ryder Cup – and the pathway for LIV golfers.

Luke Donald is well-versed with being the center of attention. He’s got pretty good at answering uncomfortable questions, but the sheepish grin on his face suggests there are a few things he wants to get off his chest about the makeup of his team and the controversial qualification criteria for the European Ryder Cup team.

Plenty were forthcoming during a roundtable discussion, where he was grilled about a sensational return for Sergio Garcia, a new-look team event in Abu Dhabi next year, and Jon Rahm’s uncertain future on the DP World Tour. These were the four main takeaways during our 20-minute discussion, which took place ahead of the first Ryder Cup qualification event at the Belfry.

Rahm ‘willing to do whatever it takes’ to make the team

The Spaniard’s defection to the LIV remains one of the biggest headaches for Donald. Under the new qualification criteria, there’s no obvious pathway for LIV golfers outside of the four Major Championships.

What counts in Rahm’s favor is that he’s still eligible to play at the Masters, PGA Championship, US Open, and Open Championship next year, though he is currently in danger of losing his DP World membership for 12 months having only played in one event all season. The minimum requirement to retain status is four.

With time running out, it does raise questions about his commitment to the team – a point which Donald was quick to address when asked about his chances of making the team next year.

“I’ve had many conversations with Jon. He absolutely knows what the deal is. Nothing has changed from last year. I think he knew when he signed for LIV what the policies were on the DP World Tour. You have to play your four [events]. 

“Per all the policies, he can pay the fines or he can appeal like some of the guys have, and that gives him the opportunity to do that. It’s really up to him to do that, and I hope very much that he wants to do that and become eligible. He certainly mentioned at the PGA Championship he was willing to do whatever it took to commit to me and the team. I hope that happens.”

Rose and Molinari lined up for bigger role at Bethpage and beyond

Chances are, you’ve probably forgotten there was another team competition called the Hero Cup in 2023. It pitted Continental Europe against Great Britain & Ireland and basically acted as an audition for would-be Ryder Cup rookies like Bob MacIntyre, Nicolai Hojgaard, and Sepp Straka.

Next year the event is returning to the DP World Tour calendar in January with a new name (The Team Cup) and Justin Rose and Francesco Molinari leading the two teams as player captains in Abu Dhabi. 

Inevitably, it has already led to suggestions that both men are among the leading contenders to succeed Donald when the time comes. The Englishman was typically guarded when asked about that – and a possible vice-captaincy role for both men in Bethpage – though he was effusive in his praise when discussing their appointments and what it might mean for their prospects in the future.

“It is great to have Francesco back obviously as the winning captain for Team Europe and great to have Justin this year as the GB&I captain. Obviously their games, and their resumés speak for themselves, major champions, both great players in their own right, and will be good leaders.  

“It’s another opportunity for them potentially down the road to have some roles in a Ryder Cup captaincy and to get some practice leading some teams. It was great to get that event back on the schedule.”  

Garcia will be eligible for Ryder Cup selection 

OK, so this is kind of old news. I broke the story three weeks as part of my exclusive interview with The Fireballs captain. But Donald did confirm that Sergio Garcia intends to reapply for DP World Tour membership with the view to making himself eligible for selection. The Englishman also opened the door for more LIV golfers to follow suit and made a point of welcoming Tyrrell Hatton’s decision to play in the British Masters this week at the Belfry.

“I’m excited to have as many players as I can to choose from and to be eligible, and I’m glad Tyrrell is playing this week,” he said. “He’s obviously done everything he needed to do per the DP World Tour policy, and he’s playing this week. I hope he can be one of the guys that I can look for next year as someone that’s eligible.”

Rai on Donald’s radar after strong showings

The Wolverhampton star was barely part of the conversation 12 months ago, but is now hovering around the world’s top 25 after winning for the first time on the PGA Tour – on his 89th attempt – at the Wyndham Championship earlier this month.

The 29-year-old is one of nine Europeans (the others are Ludvig Aberg, Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Viktor Hovland, Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Sepp Straka, Matthieu Pavon) set to compete at the Tour Championship this week and Donald has been impressed by what’s he’s seen so far this summer.

“He’s been very consistent,” said Donald. “His stats on the Tour have been great, [and it was] great to see him break through and get that win a month ago. He just seems very, very dedicated to his craft. I love the way he goes about his business, quite quiet, gets on with it, works hard on his game. It’s great to see it pay off.”

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About the author

Michael Catling – Features Editor

Michael Catling is an award-winning journalist who specializes in golf’s Majors and Tours, including DP World, PGA, LPGA, and LIV.

Michael joined Today’s Golfer in 2016 and has traveled the world to attend the game’s biggest events and secure exclusive interviews with the game’s biggest names, including Jack Nicklaus, Jordan Spieth, Tom Watson, Greg Norman, Gary Player, Martin Slumbers and Justin Thomas.

Get in touch with Michael via email and follow him on X.