The trip came together in the space between two golf weeks. Most of the group had just finished at the Amgen Irish Open at Trump International Golf Links in Doonbeg, about 60 miles up the road from the County Limerick venue. Jon Rahm, Justin Rose, Shane Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland, Ludvig Åberg, Bob MacIntyre, Sepp Straka, Matt Fitzpatrick and Tyrrell Hatton were among the 16 who played 18 holes and stayed for dinner.

Jon Rahm, speaking to reporters at Wentworth on Tuesday ahead of the BMW PGA Championship, was the most effusive of the group. He said the course was “as good a shape as I’ve ever seen it” and that a summer regrass from European rye to American rye had left the greens firm enough to run at Ryder Cup speeds.

“It was in perfect condition. It was immaculate.”

“Any time I’m asked to go to Adare Manor, I’m going to go happily and willingly. It’s one of the best hotel golf course experiences there is in the world.”

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Donald leans on continuity

For Luke Donald, seeking a third straight captaincy win after Rome and Bethpage, the point was less about the golf itself than the room-temperature of the group. Twelve months out, with the qualifying race only beginning to matter, the captain wanted his players together in the same house.

“It’s always good to see the guys and just check in,” Donald said, speaking on the trip’s purpose. “So much more ideal having those sort of face-to-face conversations, some have dinners, just catch up. I think that communication, that chat, just is beneficial in the long run. It creates some good relationships and good trust.”

Donald had made his own first captain’s tour of the estate back in April with his wife Diane and vice-captain Edoardo Molinari, telling Ryder Cup officials that “progress has started”.

Rose puts a number on the fresh energy

Justin Rose, who was grouped on Monday with Lowry, Fleetwood and rookie hopeful Ángel Ayora, put a specific figure on how much churn he expects Donald to allow himself when the team is finalised.

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“I think freshening it up a little bit would be a good thing,” Rose told reporters at Wentworth. “You want your team to be experienced, but to have some fresh energy is always great, whether that be ideas, style of game, pairing options.”

“I’d imagine that you’d look at three being sort of like the spread, I would say, maybe three new faces, maybe two and a half new faces.”

Four uncapped players made the guest list. Spanish duo Eugenio Chacarra and Ayora were joined by England’s Alex Fitzpatrick, brother of Matt and a PGA Tour winner this year, and Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan, who won the Truist Championship in May for his first PGA Tour title. All four are ranked in a way that keeps them in genuine contention for a rookie berth next September.

Rose said the mood extended beyond the round. “It was a lovely boys’ day out, in the sense we got together and had a nice dinner. There was some intention-setting of what it means to be on the team and what the plans are going forward.”

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The setup puzzle Noren wants to solve

Alex Noren, who was on the winning team at Le Golf National in 2018 and served as a vice-captain at Bethpage last September, framed the harder part of the exercise. Adare Manor has never hosted a DP World Tour event, meaning the home side is setting up a course it has almost no competitive data on.

“The strategy around setting up the course is very different from when they have a lot of data from the Tour,” Noren told Sky Sports. “It’s a very difficult task to set that up, I think, to our advantage.”

Not everyone was there. Rory McIlroy, Rasmus Højgaard, Tom McKibbin and 2026 PGA Championship winner Aaron Rai were absent, Rai because of a wedding. Nicolai Højgaard and Alex Noren rounded out the two returning names from previous European teams.

Adare Manor hosts the 46th Ryder Cup from 17 to 19 September 2027, the first time the biennial match has been played in Ireland since the K Club in 2006.

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