Luke Donald believes "crowd management" could impact his Ryder Cup pairings

Luke Donald is giving little away regarding his intended pairings for the Ryder Cup, but he has again hinted at adopting a different strategy to the one that proved so successful in Rome.

Team Europe will gather at Bethpage Black next week for a few days of practice ahead of this year's contest, but the captain insists we can not read too much into who plays with who.

Donald did suggest that "crowd management" will have an impact on his pairings, reiterating that the advantages his team had in Rome will not necessarily be advantages in front of a patriotic crowd in New York.

The European captain will, almost certainly, have had an influence on the groupings for the first two rounds of this week's BMW PGA Championship, giving a possible hint into his plans for Bethpage.

Rory McIlroy is playing with close friend Shane Lowry and Jon Rahm at Wentworth, while Justin Rose will accompany fellow Englishman Tommy Fleetwood.

Rose formed a successful partnership with Bob MacIntyre in Rome, going unbeaten in their two fourballs matches together, but the Scot is playing with Tyrrell Hatton this week.

"I think this is a different challenge," said Donald. "Some of our advantages from Rome are certainly not advantages anymore.

"I think a lot of my thinking revolves around crowd management and how we react as a team. But also, I try to approach this in a little bit of a different way in terms of communication amongst the players. 

"You know, instead of just wait until the team is formed, and then sort of get my messaging across, that process started 15 months ago. 

"Those are probably the things that I felt like could be improved from Rome and hopefully they will see some good results."

When asked if we can gauge probable pairings during their practice trip to Bethpage next week, Donald added: "Well, you can read into it however you want. There will be lots of different groups, different pairings playing together.

"Again, these things are never always set in stone. We always have a plan in place and another plan if things go in a different direction, so we'll try and have a lot of options for the week.

"It's two years since Rome, and I'm so excited about the continuity and having a team that is very similar to Rome. I think that's a massive benefit for us. But players change.

"Look at someone like Bob. He's become a much better player in the last two years. I didn't see a similar option for foursomes but potential there is this time around because of the way he plays the game now.

"You have to always consider sort of those things that not everyone is playing the same. People shift whether you are a good driver or approach player or a putter. Those things move around in your career, and so you adapt to that."

Donald also said the European players, caddies, wives and girlfriends will have a "unified approach" to hecklers. 

He has also received assurances the Ryder Cup won't be hindered by Donald Trump's presence on the first day.