Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald urges young guns to create a legacy at next year’s showdown with United States

Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald has thrown down the gauntlet to Europe’s next generation ahead of next year’s showdown in Rome. Qualification for the event with the United States began with last week’s BMW Championship at Wentworth with eventual winner Shane Lowry, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm setting the early pace.

Ad But with the eligibility of several more established European names such as Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood in question due to the ongoing dispute with LIV Golf, a new-look team looks set to be tasked with bouncing back from the record 19-9 hammering at the hands of the US at Whistling Straits last year. DS Automobiles Italian OpenItalian Open betting tips as McIlroy makes bid for glory at Ryder Cup venue21 HOURS AGO Speaking ahead of this week’s DS Automobiles Italian Open at the same Marco Simone Golf and Country Club that will also play host to the Ryder Cup next year, Donald urged the young guns of the DP World Tour to rise to the occasion.

“I think there's a great opportunity, like every year, for young players to come through and make the team and it will be my goal to make it clear how big the Ryder Cup is in terms of an event,“ he said. “When I think back to my first Ryder Cup in 2004, I understood it was a big event but I didn’t really understand the enormity of it, the impact it has on golf, the impact it has on the next generation of players to take up the game, to create history.

“It’s an event like nothing that we play, week in, week out. We come together as a team and put all our individual assets to the side and come together to create something, you know, that's bigger than just ourselves.

“So, that would be my message to the younger players. This is a great opportunity to create