Lowry and Rahm headline Luke Donald’s six wildcard picks for Europe’s Ryder Cup defence

Spain's Jon Rahm was Donald's second pick and is joined by Austria's Sepp Straka. 

RYDER CUP: Shane Lowry was captain Luke Donalds first choice for the Ryder Cup Captains pick. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Europe will defend the Ryder Cup later this month with 11 of the 12 players who saw off the United States in Rome two years ago after Luke Donald unsurprisingly opted for experience with his wildcard picks. Europe’s captain has turned to Shane Lowry, Sepp Straka, Victor Hovland, Ludvig Åberg, Jon Rahm and Matt Fitzpatrick to complete his team for Bethpage. Donald confirmed his choices on Monday, five days after his US counterpart Keegan Bradley had done likewise.

Speaking about being picked Lowry said "It's unbelievable. It has been a stressful few weeks, stressful year trying to make the team and I am very grateful that Luke and his team have put their faith in me again this time and hopefully I can repay them by producing the goods in Bethpage in a few weeks time."