Luke Donald, European Ryder Cup captain, is leaving no stone unturned in crafting his 2025 roster for Bethpage Black.
While attending this week's Turkish Airlines Open on the DP World Tour, the Englishman told reporters that “everyone’s on the radar.”
One of the players on Donald’s radar is former LIV golfer Eugenio Chacarra. The Spaniard won the Hero Indian Open earlier this year at Gary Player’s DLF Golf & Country Club, known as an extremely tough course.
“Everyone’s on the radar. Anyone European who wins, I’m always sending them a message of congratulations. Winning on a difficult course in India, that shows a lot, and we’ll keep an eye on him," he said.
Chacarra has the pedigree of a player who could help the European team win on American soil for the first time since 2012 at Medinah Country Club. Prior to his decision to join LIV, Chacarra was a standout at Oklahoma State. He was first-team All-American honors and a finalist for both the Ben Hogan Award and Haskins Award for the nation’s top collegiate golfer. Just before signing his controversial LIV Golf contract, he rose to No. 2 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, one spot behind PGA Tour star Ludvig Åberg.
The form has continued for the 25-year-old since his win. He finished T4 at the Volvo China Open and T11 at the Hainan Classic, locking up a top-three finish in the DP World Tour's Asian Swing in the process.
At the Zurich Classic a few weeks ago, Luke Donald competed while also closely observing potential European Ryder Cup players.
"It’s great this week to see so many Europeans here. Obviously a little bit of a dynamic from the alliance we have and the 10 cards [PGA Tour spots for DPWT players]. Seems like more and more Europeans are coming and playing," Donald said.
"It'll be interesting to see how they do. I'll certainly be keeping an eye. I had a few conversations earlier in the year about potential partnerships amongst some of these Europeans that I thought might work."
With plenty of Europeans at TPC Louisiana including both Hojgaard and Fitzpatrick brothers, Donald got a good look at numerous players.
In November, the all-time leading scorer in the Ryder Cup, Sergio Garcia, paid his DP World Tour fines to reclaim his Ryder Cup eligibility.
Garcia has had a strong year on LIV and is clearly making an effort to be on the 2025 team after missing out due to suspension in 2023.
"I think he’s watching. We’ve been in touch, so I know that he’s keeping an eye," Garcia said of Donald after winning LIV Hong Kong. "The only thing I can do is keep playing good golf. I just want to help the European team like I’ve tried to do every single time I’ve been a member of that team. Hopefully he will think I’m good enough for it."
Donald will make his captain’s picks in late August.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Luke Donald Leaving No Stone Unturned While Building Europe’s 2025 Ryder Cup Team.