Luke Donald believes that preparation is key.
He didn’t achieve world No. He didn’t become world No.
Donald has been scripting various scenarios to be able to take each session at face value, but as he said, “We’ll already have a plan in place.”
The goal of his team is clear: “I believe they will be in a positive frame of mind and feel like they can win.”
Donald leaves no stone unturned to reach his goal. The Hero World Cup in January pitted Great Britain and Ireland’s team against Continental Europe. Donald, for example, was exposed to Sepp Straka as the eventual captain, and he learned from other winning captains like Thomas Bjorn and Jose-Maria Olazabal. He also studied past captains who had won, such as Paul McGinley, Jose-Maria Olazabal and Edoardo Molinari. Donald could then experiment to see how his statistical models affected pairings.
Donald has also become an avid reader. He said that he reads about a book every six months, but he has been tearing through a chapter of “The Art of War” which would make Sun Tzu blush.
Donald told Golfweek that he has been reading a few books in preparation for the Ryder Cup. “The Culture Code”: The Secrets of Highly Successful People, “Belonging: The Ancient Code of Togetherness”, “The Art of Winning” and “Legacy”, “What the All Blacks can teach us about the business of life.”
He said, “I felt that I had to pick up some ideas and do something small that could make a big difference.”
He has also spoken to coaches from different sports, such as past European Ryder Cup Captains. It may seem obvious, but it wasn’t always the case. Donald called Tony Jacklin. He was the inspiring leader who led Team Europe to victory on U.S. ground in 1985, ending its losing streak.
Jacklin stated, “He called and asked me some questions and I was glad to express what I thought.” “I think that he is going into this with wide-open eyes and will do well,” Jacklin said.
