Europe’s Ryder Cup hopefuls are entering “the two biggest weeks left before qualification ends” for the biennial match against the United States, says captain Luke Donald.

This week’s Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club near Edinburgh is followed by the Open Championship at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.

And Donald, who led Europe to a 16½-11½ victory in Rome two years ago, is counting on his key players to step up this month.

“These are big weeks against the strongest fields so you want to see the top guys play well,” Donald told BBC Scotland.

“There are some guys that have pretty much staked a claim for their place in the team but there are a few spots definitely open and these weeks are big for those guys.”

Rory McIlroy is the only player to have mathematically guaranteed his spot in the 12-strong team that will face the US at Bethpage Black in New York in September.

English pair Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrrell Hatton are in second and third on the list with qualifying ending after the British Masters on 24 August – the US qualifying period ends on 17 August after the PGA Tour’s BMW Championship.

The top six make the team with Donald picking the six others, while the US team will be selected in a similar way by their skipper Keegan Bradley.

Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre is currently fourth on the European list and has really kicked on from making his Ryder Cup debut in 2023, where he was unbeaten, winning two-and-a-half points out of three.

The 28-year-old from Oban followed victory at last year’s Canadian Open by winning the Scottish Open, which is co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and PGA Tour.

“It helped him really grow as a golfer and gave him the belief that he could perform with the very best,” said Donald of MacIntyre’s Ryder Cup experience.

And the Englishman added that he has been “very impressed” by the way MacIntyre has “adapted his game to the US”.

The world number 14 has made 15 cuts from his 17 PGA Tour events this season, including his runner-up finish at last month’s US Open, where he finished one shot behind champion JJ Spaun at Oakmont.

“When you make that transition from playing mostly in Europe to playing over there, it is difficult,” said Donald.

“The fields are deeper. It’s harder. But he was still consistent and I was watching his stats quite a lot.

“Even from when he qualified in Rome to where he was before the second place in the US Open, his stats were quite a bit better.

“He won twice last year, in Canada and here [Scottish Open at Renaissance Club]. I saw the improvement in statistics and it was only a matter of time before he had a really, really good week and he almost pulled it off.”

‘McIlroy Masters win great for morale’

Donald is the first European captain to lead two successive teams since Bernard Gallacher in the 1990s – defeats at Kiawah Island in 1991 and at the Belfry in 1993 were followed by victory at Oak Hill in New York state in 1995.

After leading the team to victory in Rome two years ago Donald says he now has an insight into what is required to win away from home – something Europe has not achieved since the ‘Miracle of Medinah’ 2012, while the US have not won on European soil since 1993.

“The guys wanted me to come back and to have another chance,” said the 47-year-old Englishman.

“Not many people have ever had that chance and certainly I understand that it’s a great honour and a great privilege, but also a very tough challenge being in New York.

“It’s hard to win away Ryder Cups but having the continuity of a repeat captain, a lot of the guys know me, know how I work.

“They already trust in my abilities to lead them and I’m happy, in general, with how things are shaping up. You’re always continually trying to learn.

“It needs a little bit of a different approach, especially with how to deal with the crowd.

“That’s really my role – getting them into a good frame of mind and giving them the reasons why I think they can win.”

This season there have been five European winners of PGA Tour events, including McIlroy who joined the list of Grand Slam winners when he became Masters champion at Augusta in April.

“What Rory did at the Masters is great for our team, for our morale,” added Donald. “He’s always going to be an amazing leader inside the team room as a player.

“It’s just so many consistent weeks where the top, top guys seem to be playing at a high level. You need that ultimately if you want to win. Without that, it’s almost impossible.”

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