In a very special Player Blog ahead of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic - the opening Rolex Series event of the season - Ryder Cup Captain Luke Donald gives us his thoughts at the start of a year when his side will defend the trophy in New York.
The Englishman discusses the importance of last week's Team Cup, how his team can prepare for the bear pit that will be Bethpage Black and a potential future skipper among the ranks.
Last week's Team Cup was a very valuable week for everyone: the players, the Vice Captains, myself, everyone involved. The inaugural event a couple of years ago allowed us to learn a lot and we need to continue to learn for the challenge we have ahead of us in New York.
Some things that happened at the Team Cup two years ago had a direct effect on some of my picks. But the players involved last week all know they can't just disappear for the next seven or eight months, they have to go out there and play some great golf. Form is very important as well but hopefully the Team Cup has inspired them to go on and play better as individuals.
New York is going to be a different environment to Rome so we used the week to test out some stuff and get some messaging across to the players. We wanted them to know what it is going to be like and what it means to be part of a Ryder Cup.
There were a lot of young guys in both those teams with a lot of future potential and it was important to get them understanding the importance of the Ryder Cup, what it means and how much it can do for you as a player.
Every single person will have come out of the Team Cup feeling better about what the Ryder Cup means, the history behind it and what they need to do to be a part of it.
You can train for pressure and I think that's an important message to get across, so in eight months time we have 12 guys who are ready for that challenge. In the practice round we had speakers on the first tee to recreate some noise to try and get some data and talk to the guys to see how they felt when they heard it. Some of the guys had never been in a team environment, let alone playing in New York.
READ MORE:
• Great Britain & Ireland win Team Cup 17-8
• Justin Rose hails 'relentless' Great Britain & Ireland after Team Cup win
We have a big team that works just on the Ryder Cup and a lot of those are people that the players wouldn't be that familiar with. But on a week like the Team Cup they are out in full force. You get to see how a Ryder Cup week works with media rotations and videos and presentations and team talks. A feeling of being part of something and being part of a team.
Justin Rose did an excellent job as Great Britain & Ireland Captain. I know how meticulous Justin has been in his career about preparing and doing the right things and getting the most out of everything. He took the captaincy very seriously and he understands that at some point it will probably be his time to be a Captain for the Ryder Cup. He picked my brain and he prepared and his messaging to the team was spot on. I left him to do it himself.
In the end it was a convincing win for Great Britain & Ireland. They showed their experience and while statistically coming into this week they were favourites, they outperformed themselves. I think Continental Europe also had a few things going against them and a couple of their guys didn't perform their best. We all know how fine the margins are. I'm sure Continental Europe weren't happy with the score but I'm also sure they walked away with good memories and things that they will have learned.
