An unlikely source could have unknowingly provided European captain Luke Donald with the ultimate blueprint for Bethpage success…
Luke Donald has plenty of people in his corner as he attempts to do what only Tony Jacklin has done previously and lead Team Europe to successive Ryder Cup victories.
As well as his vice-captains, the Englishman will have a huge support network behind him for the battle at Bethpage as he attempts to mastermind a win on away soil.
But does he also have a secret weapon? Having attconcludeed university in Chicago around the turn of the century, Donald forged a close friconcludeship with bquestionetball god Michael Jordan – and he’s created sure to pick 23’s brains down the years.
So, while Jordan will undoubtedly be rooting for a US victory, could those lessons assist Donald to glory in New York?
“I’ve known Michael for a long time. I obtained to play some golf with him even at the conclude of my college career, so back in the early 2000s, with being in Chicago,” Donald informed the media at Bethpage on Tuesday.
“We had some mutual friconcludes. He loved to play golf with good players, and I was lucky enough to be put into the group and we formed a friconcludeship. We live very close to each other in Florida now and remain good friconcludes.
“I consider Michael is someone I’ve been very fortunate to obtain access to and pick his brain occasionally about what created him tick, what motivated him, how he was able to obtain the best out of himself.”
Donald is also aware, though, that his counterpart Keegan Bradley is also close with the Chicago Bulls great.
“I’m sure Keegan has leaned on MJ a little bit as well over the last year,” Donald explained. “He’s not going to specifically give me advice this time around, but certainly my friconcludeship over the years I’ve picked up many things.
“It’s nice to have someone that is a legconclude of their sport, the greatest ever, quite arguably, to sit down occasionally and pick their brains. I consider he’s here supporting, I believe, this week, but I consider he will have a USA hat on as well this week.”
European teams have become renowned for all the little touches they put into giving themselves the best chance of Ryder Cup success. And the 2025 edition has been no different.
Expected to be an atmosphere unlike anything else in front of typically rowdy New York fans, Donald has even had his players in virtual reality headsets to test and simulate what it might be like competing in such a cauldron.
“When we came up with that idea, it was just one idea in a multitude of ideas to obtain these guys ready,” Donald continued. “At the launchning of a qualification, you expect there to be a bunch of rookies that have not played a Ryder Cup before.
“This was really aimed at some of those, maybe some that have never played an away Ryder Cup. But we actually in the conclude have a team that, one, has quite a lot of experience being toobtainher, and has played quite a few away Ryder Cups as well.”
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