Luke Donald outlines Europe's plan to deal with Donald Trump and lairy New Yorkers

European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald says his troops will take a "unified approach" to rowdy spectators and he has received "assurances" the matches will run smoothly despite Donald Trump's presence.

The US president, 79, says he plans to attend the opening day of the 45th edition of the Ryder Cup later this month. 

Europe are currently the holders of the Cup following their five-point victory over the United States in Rome two years ago and they are attempting to become the first team to win an away match since the Miracle at Medinah in 2012. 

Donald's Europe will clash with Keegan Bradley's USA over 26-28 September. 

Trump's presence has, unsurprisingly, sparked logistical and security concerns. 

The men's US Open tennis final last weekend between Carlos Alacaraz and Jannik Sinner was delayed by more than 30 minutes because of the extra security measures put in place for Trump's arrival. 

The Spaniard and Italian were scheduled to begin at 14:00 local time but the start was pushed back owing to the huge queues outside Arthur Ashe Stadium. 

Donald told reporters ahead of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth on Wednesday that he has received assurances from the PGA of America that the first and, and the event overall, will run smoothly. 

"We were told that he's coming [on the] Friday," Donald said. 

"We don't know the details yet. I think the tours are talking about with The PGA of America to get more information. 

"I guess he will want to be on the first tee. Again, we understand that he's coming and both teams will be ready for that.

Asked what "ready for that" meant, Donald replied: "Just to expect that he's coming. 

"I think, obviously, The PGA of America is obviously organising this. There was some delays at the tennis. I think you're probably all aware of that, but hopefully they have learnt from that.

"It's a big process, obviously, to get a president to come to an event. There's a lot of security and everything. It takes some work, I'm sure. 

"The PGA of America's job is to make sure it's seamless, and he wants to be there to probably greet the players, and I think the crowd is probably going to be loud no matter what.

"Again, I think just as long as we know that the president is going to be there, it's not like he's just going to turn up and we didn't expect it. 

"We know he's going to be there, so it's fine."

Unified approach

There is no shortage of speculation as to what reception Donald's dozen will receive at Bethpage Black. 

The away team always receive a hostile welcome but Donald has already warned what awaits Team Europe will be a "different animal". 

"As long as you're prepared for getting a little bit of stick from the fans, I think that's okay," Donald said. 

"I think everyone deals with it differently and individually. 

"For me it was quite motivating to know that probably we were the underdog [and] we weren't expected to win, and it fuelled me to play well."

Some spectators could overstep the mark, though. 

"We will have a unified approach amongst the players, the caddies, the wives, everything," Donald added.  

"Obviously we've been told by the PGA of America, that a strong amount of police are going to be there. 

"They have their protocols in place, too. [We have had] a lot of conversations over the last six months, and they have assured me that it's going to run smoothly."

Elsewhere, Donald told media, including GolfMagic, to "read into it however you want" in terms of the pairings at the DP World Tour's flagship event. 

Two years ago, Donald sent out:

• Rory McIlroy, Ludvig Aberg, Viktor Hovland
• Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, Sepp Straka
• Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, Nicolai Hojgaard
• Justin Rose, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Robert MacIntyre 

As it turned out two weeks later at the 2025 Ryder Cup, Aberg and Hovland played together three times (twice in the foursomes and once in the fourballs), Lowry and Straka played together twice (both foursomes), Rahm played with Hatton twice (both foursomes) and once with Hojgaard (fourballs), and Rose played with MacIntyre twice (both fourballs). 

Our Andy Roberts has taken a deep dive as to whether Donald is simply playing mind games or will shake things up completely in a few weeks' time.