High Hopes For Heroes

It was mission accomplished for Team Europe at the inaugural Hero Cup in Abu Dhabi — with more than a little fun and camaraderie thrown in for good measure.

Luke Donald’s Ryder Cup hopefuls assembled at Abu Dhabi Golf Club for a team-bonding exercise and a bit of healthy matchplay competition, too.

It was Continental Europe who emerged victorious over their Great Britain & Ireland counterparts, with playing captain Francesco Molinari leading his men to a 14½-10½ win against Tommy Fleetwood and Co.

But, besides the result and the trophy-presentation fanfare for the crowds in the UAE capital, the most important job at hand was the coming-together of those hoping to make the 12-man European team preparing to take on the might of the United Stated at Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome come September as they aim to wrest by the Ryder Cup trophy from their great rivals.

Giant Pole Adrian Meronk was all smiles as he was mobbed by his teammates after holing the winning putt for Continental Europe, but the biggest grin was plastered across Ryder Cup captain Donald’s face after witnessing a successful week in Abu Dhabi for all involved.

“It was all such a useful exercise,” he told Golf Digest on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, which was keeping the DP World Tour UAE Swing party going at Yas Links. “It actually went better than expected. It was a great competition. I’m so happy with the way everyone was so into the team aspect of the event. So I got a lot out of it. Indeed, I’d like to see more team competitions on the schedule.”

One significant gain for Donald was getting to know his potential players for the Italian showdown — especially some of the younger faces he is a bit less familiar with since his own Ryder Cup exploits as a player. With a handful of virtually guaranteed players making way to give others an opportunity (Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Viktor Hovland all took a back seat), Donald seized the opportunity to run the rule over as many candidates as possible.

“It was fascinating to see how they all reacted to the team atmosphere,” he added. “And how they reacted to the pressure situations you get in matchplay much more than strokeplay. So it was a great learning experience for me, a dry run for what I will face in Italy. There is much to learn. Communication with the vice-captains is so important. Getting their input — and that of the two team captains — was so good. There is a lot going on in these things.”

With some of Donald’s older chums possibly absent after making the move to LIV Golf — Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia are legends in the Ryder Cup annals and Henrik Stenson was initially pencilled in to skipper the Europeans before his change of heart and announcement to swap the DP World Tour for the new series — there is a whole host of players with high hopes of getting on the plane to Rome later this year as Europe aim to avoid defeat on home soil for the first time in 30 years.

One man eager to make his Ryder Cup debut is Guido Migliozzi, given it will be hosted in his home country for the first time.

“I mean, I love it,” the Italian said of the Hero Cup experience. “It’s good because we feel the pressure because it’s not just us players on the course. It’s the whole team. It’s something beautiful.

“I arrived thinking I would give 100 per cent to make the Ryder Cup team in my home country. Now it is 200 per cent.”

Donald now has a healthy dilemma as so many players rose to the occasion in the UAE. Both captains thrived, while Meronk was certainly one of the stars alongside Nicolai Hojgaard (who was a late replacement for his brother Rasmus), Antoine Rozner, Matt Wallace and Robert McIntyre.

“I know now I have a nice pool of players to pick from,” said Donald, who has six captain’s picks to go with the six automatic qualifiers. “We don’t just have a good team. We have a strong squad.”

One thing for certain that Donald has still to learn though, is how to make those tough phone calls to those who don’t make the cut.

I know now I have a nice pool of players to pick from. We don’t just have a good team. We have a strong squad.

LUKE DONALD

HERO CUP RESULTS

CONTINENTAL EUROPE GREAT BRITAIN & IRELAND

FRIDAY FOURBALL

Thomas Pieters Alex Noren 1-UP Tommy Fleetwood Shane Lowry Francesco Molinari Nicolai Højgaard HALVE Ewen Ferguson Richard Mansell

Sepp Straka Adrian Meronk 4&3 Seamus Power Robert MacIntyre

Victor Perez Guido Migliozzi HALVE Callum Shinkwin Matt Wallace

Thomas Detry Antoine Rozner 2-UP Tyrrell Hatton Jordan Smith

SATURDAY MORNING FOURSOMES

Thomas Pieters Alex Noren HALVE Ewen Ferguson Richard Mansell

Sepp Straka Thomas Detry 1-UP Tommy Fleetwood Tyrrell Hatton Francesco Molinari Nicolai Højgaard 3&1 Callum Shinkwin Matt Wallace

Antoine Rozner Adrian Meronk 1-UP Jordan Smith Robert MacIntyre

Victor Perez Guido Migliozzi 3&2 Shane Lowry Seamus Power

SATURDAY AFTERNOON FOURSOMES Francesco Molinari Nicolai Højgaard 2&1 Ewen Ferguson Richard Mansell

Antoine Rozner Adrian Meronk 2&1 Callum Shinkwin Matt Wallace

Thomas Pieters Alex Noren 2&1 Tommy Fleetwood Jordan Smith

Sepp Straka Thomas Detry 1-UP Shane Lowry Tyrrell Hatton

Victor Perez Guido Migliozzi 2&1 Seamus Power Robert MacIntyre

SUNDAY SINGLES

Thomas Pieters 3&2 Tommy Fleetwood

Antoine Rozner 5&4 Tyrrell Hatton Nicolai Højgaard 1-UP Seamus Power

Alex Noren 5&3 Robert MacIntyre

Adrian Meronk 1-UP Callum Shinkwin

Guido Migliozzi 4&3 Richard Mansell Francesco Molinari 3&2 Shane Lowry

Victor Perez 4&2 Jordan Smith

Sepp Straka 5&4 Ewen Ferguson

Thomas Detry 2&1 Matt Wallace 14½ TOTAL 10½