Luke Donald will unleash ‘fire’ on the US this morning by sending out the hot-tempered pairing of Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton to get the 44th Ryder Cup underway in Rome

• Europe captain Donald will unleash ‘fire by pairing’ Rahm and Hatton together
• He believes Rahm will benefit playing alongside someone with ‘similar passion’ 
• Mail Sport’s new WhatsApp Channel: Get the breaking news and exclusives here 

The European captain has gambled on putting two of golf’s most volcanic temperaments together in the opening foursomes clash against world No 1 Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns.

Luke Donald, who has deployed Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood in the anchor slot against Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, said: ‘I think Jon feeds off a playing partner with similar kind of fire and passion – he wants to feel like he’s out there with a teammate that’s really engaged with him. Tyrrell really fits that bill.’ 

Donald has also taken an exciting punt on the 23-year-old Swedish phenomenon Ludvig Aberg, pairing him with Viktor Hovland in the second match just four months after he turned professional. 

They face Max Homa and the Open champion Brian Harman, with Aberg’s fellow rookie Sepp Straka going out alongside Shane Lowry against Rickie Fowler and Collin Morikawa.

Asked if he was deploying 12 ‘gladiators’ in Rome, Donald said: ‘I would say they’re very fearless.

Luke Donald has revealed he is set to unleash ‘fire’ on the US with his latest Ryder Cup pairing

He believes that Jon Rahm will benefit from a ‘playing partner with similar kind of fire and passion’

He continued to say that Tyrrell Hatton ‘really fits that bill’ as Europe prepare for Ryder Cup action

‘They’re extremely good golfers. The atmosphere in the team room is fantastic. Everyone is in good spirits.

‘It’s been an amazing journey. Couldn’t be more excited and happy for these 12 guys to go out and enjoy this week.

‘As a captain it’s a little bit more of a stressful job, but I’m excited. I’m excited for the guys just to take this all in, enjoy it, and try and write their own history this week.’ 

If there was a surprise from Zach Johnson’s selections, it came from his decision to not use the successful pairing of Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas in the first session. 

He has also benched Brooks Koepka, whose name was booed by elements of a typically partisan crowd attending the opening ceremony on Thursday evening.

Johnson said: ‘I have the utmost confidence in Jordan and Justin. I know we’re talking about a great tandem, but it’s a situation where it’s not about their form. They’re playing great. So it’s really about dissecting the five sessions.’ 

From the European perspective, Donald has sat out Justin Rose, Matt Fitzpatrick, Bob MacIntyre and Nicolai Hojgaard. Donald later showed his hand by confirming they would each feature in the Friday fourballs.

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