Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald claims the Team Cup was “very valuable” despite Great Britain and Ireland’s golfers wrapping up victory over Continental Europe with eight matches to spare.
Any jeopardy quickly evaporated as Justin Rose’s GB&I side romped to a 17-8 triumph, with the overall result sealed by Tommy Fleetwood’s 3&1 win over Matthieu Pavon.
It gave the Englishman, who also claimed the winning point at the 2023 Ryder Cup, a 100% record this week.
Laurie Canter had already taken GB&I, who needed only two points from the 10 final-day singles contests, to the brink of victory by beating Romain Langasque 5&4.
When Tyrrell Hatton maintained his unbeaten record with a 3&1 win over Thorbjorn Olesen, the overall result was already known.
Despite such a lopsided event, Donald insisted this week’s gathering at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club had been worthwhile preparation for Europe’s Ryder Cup defence at Bethpage this September.
“I think it has been a very valuable week for everyone involved – all the players, myself and the vice-captains,” the European skipper told BBC Sport.
“We learned a lot a couple of years ago and we are continuing to learn for the challenge we have ahead of us in New York.”
Donald led Europe to a convincing win to regain the Ryder Cup in Italy in 2023. “New York is going to be a different environment to Rome,” he warned.
“We have been testing out some stuff in terms of messaging and getting it across to players what it is going to be like and what it means to be part of a Ryder Cup.
“There’s a lot of young guys here but, at the same time, a lot of future potential players and it’s about just getting them to appreciate the importance of the Ryder Cup, what it means and how much it can do for you as a player.
“I think every single person will come out of this week feeling better about what Ryder Cups mean, the history behind it and what they need to do to be a part of it.”
Rose is viewed as the most likely candidate to succeed Donald for the 2027 match and bolstered his credentials during this, his first taste of captaincy.
By sending out Fleetwood and Hatton, his two strongest players, in the opening matches he showed a ruthless streak to complete victory as quickly as possible.
“We know how meticulous Justin has been in his career about preparing and doing the right things and getting the most out of everything,” Donald said. “I think he took this job very seriously.
“I think he understands that at some point it will be his time to be captain for the Ryder Cup. He picked my brain and I think his messaging to the team was spot on.
“I kind of left him to do it himself and he will obviously be very happy with the result.”
Rose beat Julien Guerrier 3&2 and the unbeaten Paul Waring secured a 4&3 win over Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen.
It was not until the fifth singles contest that Continental Europe posted a point with Niklas Norgaard beating Matthew Jordan 3&2. Antoine Rozner beat Matt Wallace on the final green, as did Matteo Manassero against Tom McKibbin.
The continental captain Francesco Molinari tied with Jordan Smith before Rasmus Hojgaard birdied the last to force a tie with Aaron Rai in the bottom match.
After securing the winning point, Fleetwood agreed that the three days of competition had been valuable. “I love the role that Luke has said this Team Cup plays come September,” the 33-year-old said.
“Everybody from Luke, the vice captains, the players, all the stuff, they put such a huge effort into this week because it has such a vital role for September.
“Who knows how many will make the Ryder Cup team this time as it’s a long way away and we have a lot of individual golf to play before then. We’ll just need to wait and see.”
