Four Ryder Cup rookies ready to impress Luke Donald
Kristoffer Reitan of Norway plays a shot from a bunker on the 13th hole during the first round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
As the Pennsylvanian breeze picked up significantly into Friday morning gusts which buffeted golf’s best and sent second-round scores tumbling, an older hand stayed steady.
Luke Donald doesn’t play much these days, just six events last year and the PGA Championship is his seasonal debut for 2026. Think of him as part-time pro, full-time Captain Europe.
But the opening eight holes of his second round saw Donald deny the blitz of bogeys that was breaking out across Aronimink Golf Club. Starting on the back nine, the 48-year-old was faultless and moving on up with birdies on the 11th and 16th. A bogey did arrive on the 18th but he was a rare soul out there making the turn under par.
Unfortunately an ugly triple bogey on his penultimate hole put Donald's weekend at risk. But you can see why he might want to hang around. For a start, proving you’ve still got it is always fun. His stellar career has one glaring gap too — never a major winner. But there are compelling reasons for Donald the captain too.
The next renewal between Europe and the US may be a full 16 months away but recent recce trips to Adare Manor have reminded Donald that time ticks quickly. He knows better than anyone, given he is gunning for a significant piece of history September next year — the first man to captain a team to three-straight triumphs.
Donald picked almost identical 12-man teams for the victories he masterminded in Rome and New York, swapping Nicolai Hojgaard out for brother Rasmus his only change last year. But two years is a long time in golf and there is a wave of pretenders hoping to gatecrash Europe’s established order. Here’s a look at four potential rookies that may be pushing their way into Donald’s Adare thinking.
Currently the 10th-ranked European in the world, the 28-year-old has soared to a career high of No.25 this week on the back of his breakthrough PGA Tour triumph at last week’s Truist Championship at Quail Hollow.
It was a victory which immediately caught the attention of Europe’s leading lights, Rory McIlroy labelling it “an amazing thing”.
Reitan is hot, three other top-15 finishes on tour since April and was steady in his debut PGA Championship round, firing a Thursday 71. The Norwegian’s driving prowess and unflappability would seem well suited to the cauldron of a Ryder Cup.
We know how big a role the Molinaris have played in Europe’s modern dominance, both as players and strategists advising Donald. Will next year feature a new sibling duo? There may be recency bias in this suggestion but it’s important to recall that Matt Fitzpatrick’s little brother was already moving up in the world before the months of his dreams arrived. The 27-year-old Alex won his first European Tour title in March at the Indian Open before crossing the Atlantic to team up with Matt and claim the Zurich Classic in emotional fashion. That win secured Alex a PGA Tour card and he’s settled in an instant among the elite. A tie for ninth at the Cadillac and fourth at the Truist last week earned him $1.5m and sent his world ranking soaring. Twice a Walker Cup player, the younger Fitzpatrick would relish another crack at the Americans.
Compatriot Marco Penge is many observers' pick to push hard in Donald’s thoughts and Rai currently sits four spots below Penge in the world rankings, at 44.
A playoff victory over Tommy Fleetwood at the HSBC in Abu Dhabi last November made plenty stand up and take even more notice of Rai, whose consistency of ball striking has impressed for a few years now.
Eight-straight major visits have resulted in no missed cuts and an opening 70 at Aronimink was followed by a typically steady second round Friday.
The likes of Harry Hall, Thomas Detry and Sami Valimaki all sit higher in or near the world’s top 60 but Donald’s European era has been marked by fast risers, Ludvig Aberg trusted to shine in Rome and delivering in some style. So why not Ayora?
The 21-year-old is one of the most talked-about prospects in European golf for some time and his major debut in Pennsylvania this week hasn’t been low key — he spent his Wednesday practicing alongside McIlroy, Shane Lowry and Padraig Harrington, a trio of Ryder Cup icons.
Ayora’s butter-smooth swing has already been compared to McIlroy’s. He’s working with Carlos Alcaraz’s performance coach and counts Seve Ballesteros’s son Javier as his agent. An opening 72 left him with a little work to do but joining Donald in the weekend mix would do him no harm.
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