Q. Here in Abu Dhabi for the Team Cup, how important is this for you and The Ryder Cup team moving forward?
LUKE DONALD: I think it's very important. If you look at this event two years ago, half the team we had in Rome played here two years ago. I think it has massive importance. It's a great week to sort of start off, kick off the year all together.
You've got two great teams, two quality standard teams. You have rookies that are hungry to try and make a mark, and you have two guys that have a lot of experience. It's great for me to oversee it and see how these players perform under match play team competition and under that kind of pressure.
Q. Looking back on '23, what did you learn from that week?
LUKE DONALD: Well, I think you understand, I think match play and team match play brings with it a different pressure. You see how people cope under that and you see how they react. Certain people did better than others, and Nicolai was an example. Came in in a tough situation, replaced his brother, and probably performed the best out of everyone that week.
Again, forward eight months later when I was making my picks, that was something that I took into consideration.
So these are all things that we'll see, we'll look at, and again, it's an important week for the buildup to New York.
Q. Is there anything in particular that you are looking for from the players this week?
LUKE DONALD: Well, I'm kind of sitting in an overview. It's great to have Justin and Fran here, getting a little experience for the other side of it, and an eye to still wanting to play great for me. It's sitting back and watching the players and see how they interact as a team and see how they perform under that sort of pressure.
Yeah, it's a good learning week for me and the vice captains.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports