Donald fills out Europe's team with familiar names for Ryder Cup defense

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Donald fills out Europe's team with familiar names for Ryder Cup defense

2025-09-02 00:49 Last Updated At：00:50

European captain Luke Donald is bringing the same 12 faces — one different name — to the Ryder Cup with hopes of creating a new experience while getting the same outcome as when they dismantled the Americans two years ago in Rome.

Donald filled out the rest of his 12-man team Monday with six captain's picks, all of whom contributed to a resounding victory at Marco Simone in 2023.

There were no surprises. Donald asked Matt Fitzpatrick to play the last two weeks at the British Masters and European Masters, and he obliged by delivering a pair of top-six finishes. The former U.S. Open champion was the final picked Donald announced.

The other choices were Shane Lowry, Jon Rahm, Sepp Straka, Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Åberg. It's the first time Europe has returned 11 of the 12 players from a previous Ryder Cup team.

The exception was Rasmus Højgaard of Denmark, who qualified for the team in the final week. His identical twin, Nicolai, played on the team in Rome.

The Ryder Cup has been increasingly difficult to win on the road — Europe's only victory on U.S. soil required the greatest comeback by a visiting team in 2012 at Medinah — and it figures to be especially difficult at Bethpage Black in New York, renowned for its hostile crowd.

“Even though we have a lot of continuity, this is a different animal,” Donald said. “We understand how difficult it is.”

The matches are Sept. 26-28. Europe has a 12-9-1 record against the Americans dating to 1979, when continental Europe was added to what previously had been only Britain and Ireland.

“If we’re sitting in New York on the Sunday night with the Ryder Cup in our team room, I'll be a very happy man,” said Lowry, one of five Europeans without a win this year.

Højgaard is the only Ryder Cup rookie for Europe, its fewest since Nicolas Colsaerts was the sole rookie at Medinah in 2012. That was by design, as it's far easier to bring in a newcomer before a home crowd. Europe had four rookies at Marco Simone.

“You have to understand who you are playing against, what course you're playing and what the environment is going to be like,” Donald said. "Understanding all of that had a big factor in choosing the guys I did. They understand they can go head-to-head. I think they feel like they can compete with these guys.

“That was significant in my thinking why they deserved to be on that team.”

The other five players who automatically qualified were Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Robert MacIntyre, Justin Rose and Tyrrell Hatton.

Among those under consideration were Marco Penge with his two European tour titles this season and Matt Wallace, a runner-up at the European Masters on Sunday. He finished 12th in the standings and broke down while talking about his desire to play on the team.

“I called him 10 to 15 minutes after that emotional interview he did and I felt very emotional for him,” Donald said. “It shows to me what the Ryder cup means to these guys.”

While the team is nearly the same, Donald said this will be a new Ryder Cup for Europe that could feature different partnerships and other “techniques” to prepare for a road game. Most of his players will be at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth next week, and he plans a trip to Bethpage Black before Ryder Cup week.

All six of Donald's captains picks were made available on a virtual call, all with big smiles.

“These are the greatest days of our lives,” Donald said. “We unbelievably enjoy the Ryder Cup. As fun and as good as Rome was, I want to make this an even better experience.”

Lowry, Straka, Åberg, Hovland and Fitzpatrick placed No. 7-11 on Europe's Ryder Cup rankings. Rahm, a two-time major champion who now plays on the Saudi-backed LIV Golf League, is playing in his fourth straight Ryder Cup, but this was the first time he needed a captain's pick.

Rahm did not win on LIV Golf this year, but his consistency allowed him to win the individual title for the second straight year.

“Because we're playing in the U.S., we're always going to be the underdog,” Rahm said.

Bradley announced his picks last week and the big news was that they didn’t include himself.

Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Cameron Young, Ben Griffin, Sam Burns and Patrick Cantlay were picked to join Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Harris English, Bryson DeChambeau, J.J. Spaun and Russell Henley on the team.

The Americans will have four rookies: Spaun, Henley, Young and Griffin. This is the third straight Ryder Cup when the U.S. team has had at least four newcomers.

AP Golf Writer Doug Ferguson contributed to this report.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

A South Korean court sentences Yoon to 5 years in prison on charges related to martial law decree

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison Friday in the first verdict from eight criminal trials over the martial law debacle that forced him out of office and other allegations.

Yoon was impeached, arrested and dismissed as president after his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024 triggered huge public protests calling for his ouster.

The most significant criminal charge against him alleges that his martial law enforcement amounted to a rebellion, and the independent counsel has requested the death sentence in the case that is to be decided in a ruling next month.

In Friday's case, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Yoon for defying attempts to detain him, fabricating the martial law proclamation and sidestepping a legally mandated full Cabinet meeting.

Yoon has maintained he didn’t intend to place the country under military rule for an extended period, saying his decree was only meant to inform the people about the danger of the liberal-controlled parliament obstructing his agenda. But investigators have viewed Yoon’s decree as an attempt to bolster and prolong his rule, charging him with rebellion, abuse of power and other criminal offenses.

Judge Baek Dae-hyun said in the televised ruling that imposing “a grave punishment” was necessary because Yoon hasn’t shown remorse and has only repeated “hard-to-comprehend excuses.” The judge also restoring legal systems damaged by Yoon’s action was necessary.

Yoon, who can appeal the ruling, hasn’t immediately publicly responded to the ruling. But when the independent counsel demanded a 10-year prison term in the case, Yoon’s defense team accused them of being politically driven and lacking legal grounds to demand such “an excessive” sentence.

Prison sentences in the multiple, smaller trials Yoon faces would matter if he is spared the death penalty or life imprisonment at the rebellion trial.

Park SungBae, a lawyer who specializes in criminal law, said there is little chance the court would decide Yoon should face the death penalty in the rebellion case. He said the court will likely issue a life sentence or a sentence of 30 years or more in prison.

South Korea has maintained a de facto moratorium on executions since 1997 and courts rarely hand down death sentences. Park said the court would take into account that Yoon’s decree didn’t cause casualties and didn’t last long, although Yoon hasn’t shown genuine remorse for his action.