18 September 2023 , 15:13
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European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald has been given a boost ahead of next week's trip to Marco Simone after his 12 players found form at the BMW PGA Championship.
Every one of Donald's European stars competed at the DP World Tour's flagship event at Wentworth, and across the opening two rounds were all paired together in four marque groups. Fortunately for Donald and his players, all 12 made the 36-hole cut in perfect preparation for their upcoming battle in Rome.
And the majority then kicked on over the weekend too, with seven of Europe's Ryder Cup competitors finishing inside the top-10, following a dramatic finish at the home of European golf on Sunday. Whilst it was New Zealander Ryan Fox who came away with the title, a number of Donald's big players found themselves in contention during the business end of the event.
Englishman - and Team Europe member - Tyrrell Hatton came closest, finishing in a tie for second, just one shot behind champion Fox. In behind Hatton came the core of Donald's team, with Jon Rahm finishing the week in fourth, Viktor Hovland in fifth, Tommy Fleetwood in sixth, and Europe's talisman, Rory McIlroy coming in a tie for seventh.
There were top-10 finishes for rookies Sepp Straka and Ludvig Aberg too, who ended the week in a tie for 10th. There was also some success for Matt Fitzpatrick and Shane Lowry who both finished inside the top-20, having tied for 18th at 10-under-par. The experienced Justin Rose finished in a tie for 36th following his 72 holes, matching the score of fellow countryman, and his Ryder Cup skipper Donald at five-under.
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Rookie, Robert MacInytre then finished a shot further back in a tie for 45th, whilst fellow debutant Nicolai Hojgaard ended the week at level-par in tied-64th. One man who came within a shot of being the only Ryder Cup star to miss the cut at Wentworth last Friday was star man, McIlroy.
Seven European Ryder Cup stars finished in the top-10 (Getty Images)A final-hole birdie in the Surrey darkness proved just enough to earn him a place over the weekend, and unsurprisingly the Northern Irishman made the most of it, showcasing his best golf of the week across round three and four. Discussing his game heading to Rome, McIlroy said: "I'm not far away. There's a couple things, more so my misses. My good swings are good swings and I can hit good shots.
"Just managing the misses and just making sure that there's not a lot of them in there. We are all going to hit bad shots from time to time. That's natural and inevitable.
"But if I can eradicate them a little bit and be a little bit more consistent, at least it's the same pattern which is nice. I think what I did well over the weekend, as well, was playing away from those misses and knowing if I was going to miss it, I was going to miss it in the right spot. I managed my game better but it would be nice to go to Rome without those misses."