"I felt like I needed to just pick up ideas" - Luke Donald reveals reading The Art of Winning and other books ahead of the Ryder Cup

Luke Donald and his squad will compete against Zach Johnson's team in the 2023 Ryder Cup later this month. The English golfer, who places a high value on practice, made sure not to lose any opportunities to win the prestigious tournament on his home course.

The European side hasn't lost the Ryder Cup on home soil in 30 years, so Donald will undoubtedly be eager to carry on the tradition.

Luke Donald is an art graduate who likes to read and paint. He has been reading 'The Art of War' in order to be mentally ready before the start of the championship.

In an interview with Golf Week, Donald discussed his reading preferences and said:

“I felt like I needed to just pick up ideas, pick up one little thing that might make a difference. We’ll have a good plan in place. I think they’ll be in a good frame of mind, feeling like they can win."

Besides this, Luke Donald called different coaches who previously served as the European Ryder Cup team to get their advice.

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"I think the team is very strong" - Padraig Harrington backs Luke Donald's European Ryder Cup Team

Luke Donald announced his six-captain pick for the 2023 European Ryder Cup Team on Monday, September 5, in a press conference.

The English golfer picked up Tommy Fleetwood, Sepp Straka, Nicolai Hojgaard, Ludvig Aberg, Shane Lowry, and Justin Rose. They will be joining the auto-qualifiers that include Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland, Matt Fitzpatrick, Robert MacIntyre, and Tyrrell Hatton.

However, fans were not happy with the team as they believed Adrian Meronk deserved a position over Shane Lowry.

Recently, Padraig Harrington defended the European Ryder Cup team in his interview with the media. The Irish golfer said that the European team is very strong and it's more like they had in the 80s and 90s. He said (via the Irish Examiner):

"I think Europe is very strong this year. I think we're back – I believe we're back to the '80s, the '70s where our top players are actually the best players in the world. So I think the team is very strong. I think they're very much in form."

Harrington also said that some of the players have developed their game since the previous Ryder Cup and were now a part of the team. The COVID year gave them extra time to pick up the pace. He added:

"And I said at the end of that Ryder Cup, I said in numerous interviews, many of these players are going to go on to play their best golf going forward, and they have. The US Team were peaking. That extra year got them into a great place."

The 2023 Ryder Cup will take place from September 29 to October 1 at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome, Italy.