Luke Donald's big strategy change; Get off to fast start

European Ryder Cup Captain Luke Donald is hoping to get off to a fast start in the opening foursomes in the 44th Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club.

Team Europe are aiming to reclaim the Ryder Cup in Rome, Italy following a record 19 - 9 defeat at Whistling Straits against a U.S. Team which is looking to win on foreign soil for the first time in 30 years.

The opening session usually kicks off with four-balls, but the 2023 edition will begin with foursomes on Friday in Italy as Team Europe plan their assault on winning an eighth Ryder Cup in 11 events since the turn of the century.

Donald and U.S. Ryder Cup Team Captain Zach Johnson met with the media for the first time on site on Monday, and the Englishman revealed the reason behind the change in format.

Donald, who has been on four victorious European Ryder Cup Teams, said: "Pretty simple really. We feel like as a team, statistically, we are stronger in foursomes within our team than we would be in four-balls. Why not get off to a fast start? That's it."

The 44-year-old admitted that Team Europe have also been inspired by their women counterparts after they had retained the Solheim Cup last weekend in Malaga, Spain.

Team Europe fought back from 4-0 down to the U.S. Team following the opening session before eventually drawing 14-14, holding on to the trophy after their victory at Inverness Club in Ohio in 2021.

"I caught a decent amount of it on Sunday. I saw a little bit of the start on Friday before I had to get on a plane to come here," Donald said.

"Obviously after a very tough start, and going down 4-0 to the U.S., I thought it was a very admirable comeback. Some great golf by both teams.

"A lot of the guys were talking about it, a lot of the guys were posting stuff on their socials. You know, I think that's only good inspiration for our team going forward this week."

The 43rd Ryder Cup was delayed by 12 months due to COVID-19 and with some restrictions still in place when the rescheduled event finally took place, Team Europe were hit by a red wall of support in Wisconsin.

Now back on home soil in a bid to overturn the heavy defeat, Donald knows the crowd can have a huge impact on the outcome of the result.

He said: "Being at home, we know it is an advantage. We know it's an advantage when you're in the U.S., and it's an advantage to us.

"But having that support, that crowd behind you, is helpful and it picks up your energy as a player and you can feed off it.

"Absolutely we are looking forward to having a lot more support this time around. It was certainly lacking a lot because of COVID two years ago, and hopefully that is something that will certainly be in our favour."

Despite winning each edition in Europe since 1993, the U.S. Team are slight favourites to retain the Ryder Cup, but Donald is adamant his side can continue their brilliant form on home soil.

"As Captain, you have to be confident. I certainly have a lot of belief in my team, I know it's going to be a difficult next few days, it really is," he added.

"The U.S. Team are really strong, we know that. We are coming off our worst defeat ever in a Ryder Cup. U.S. players are strong, they're high up in the world rankings, they have some great partnerships, have had a lot of success so we will have our work cut out, but you have to have belief in your team that you're going to get them into a place where they can be successful.

"I'm looking forward to seeing how it all unfolds over the coming days."