Luke Donald's Ryder Cup masterplan takes shape at Masters as star followed
Luke Donald is gearing up to defend the Ryder Cup title after leading Europe to victory in 2023, and the Englishman is on-site at Augusta National to watch over his players
Justin Rose has caught the attention of European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald after the Englishman made a superb start to this week's Masters.
As the opening day of play ended on Tuesday, Rose found himself as the man on top of the leaderboard, after carding a superb seven-under-par 65 around Augusta National. He returned in the early wave on Friday for round two, and remained the man on top when heading into the clubhouse, shooting a one-under-par 71.
A big showing this week is hugely important for the Englishman, who will be hoping he can keep hold of his place in Donald's European Ryder Cup team. Bryson DeChambeau is among those chasing Rose at Augusta National.
Rose played his part as Europe's oldest team member two years ago, and a big showing at Augusta would go a long way to helping him return to the squad for their title defense at Bethpage Black in September. He is clearly on the radar of Donald, with Sky Sports on-course reporter Wayne Riley revealing the captain was following his fellow countryman during round two.
At the age of 44, most Ryder Cup talk surrounding Rose has been in regard to him potentially taking Donald's place as captain when the matchplay event returns to Europe at Adare Manor in Ireland in 2027. He will be keen to make one more performance as a player, though, having represented his continent on six occasions.
Despite having Donald watching on, Rose's focus will be firmly on the task at hand this week, with the 44-year-old chasing his first Masters victory after coming close on a number of occasions. "You know what, I feel like I've played well enough to win this tournament," he said on Thursday.
"I just feel like I don't have the jacket to prove it. I feel like, no, it's a compliment. I've obviously played; I've played a lot of good rounds of golf here. Got a lot of crystal, which is obviously always nice. But yeah, you know, ultimately, you want to be last man standing on Sunday.
"I was a shot shy [of] Sergio [Garcia], and in 2017, that was a real 50/50. That could have gone any which way down the stretch. A little bit of Lady Luck here and there is always the difference here at times. But I've had my luck on occasion and been a champion.
"But you've got to be playing the golf to keep creating those opportunities, and obviously the only way to do that is to get your name on the leaderboard. I definitely don't shy away from it." Rose is, of course, no stranger to winning a major championship.
The Englishman was crowned U.S. Open champion in 2013 and has left himself in a strong spot to move closer to major No. 2 at the halfway point in Georgia. He has company at the top, though, with the likes of Scottie Scheffler and DeChambeau in the chasing pack.