Europe captain Luke Donald filled his 12-man roster for this month’s Ryder Cup with players who helped the team win back the trophy in Rome two years ago.
Shane Lowry, Jon Rahm, Sepp Straka, Viktor Hovland, Ludvig Aberg and Matt Fitzpatrick were announced as Donald’s picks for showpiece event against the United States at Bethpage from September 26.
Donald will be taking a familiar line-up to New York, returning 11 of the 12 players who won the Ryder Cup for the European team in 2023. Indeed, the only change two years on sees Rasmus Hojgaard play instead of his twin brother, Nicolai.
Masters champion Rory McIlroy, newly-crowned FedEx Cup winner Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Bob MacIntyre, Tyrrell Hatton and Hoijgaard all had secured automatic qualification.
England's Matt Wallace, who missed out on a captain's pick in 2018 despite three victories that season, suffered more heartbreak.
The 35-year-old finished 12th in the European team rankings, while Rahm's position on the LIV Golf tour meant he did not accrue enough points, finishing 24th.
However, such is Rahm's stature as a big occasion player – he had two top-10s in this year's majors and only Hatton and Hovland scored more points than him in Rome – and Donald's desire to include him that a spot had to be made available and that proved costly for Wallace.
Hatton is also a LIV golfer but in the last year has won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and Dubai Desert Classic, finished runner up at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and a tied for fourth at the US Open.
Being available for Ryder Cup selection was a major factor in the pair's appeal against heavy fines imposed by the DP World Tour for playing on the LIV circuit without obtaining an official release as tour members.
That hearing has been pushed back until after the Ryder Cup, which spared Donald any difficult decisions.
“Jon really sets the standard for us. He is usually the first person up and the last person in the team room,” said Donald.
“It's amazing, he understands the history of the Ryder Cup. He takes that history to heart and plays like that.”
Rahm's place was not really in doubt but the Spaniard said: “It's a different feeling. I didn't think I'd be as emotional as I am right now. It's going to be special.”
Hovland teamed up with Aberg, a rookie in Rome just three months after turning professional, to inflict a record 9 and 7 defeat on world number one Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka and the pair look set to be reunited on the course again.
RESULTS
5pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (Turf) 2,200m
Winner: M'A Yaromoon, Jesus Rosales (jockey), Khalifa Al Neydai (trainer)
5.30pm: Khor Al Baghal – Conditions (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: No Riesgo Al Maury, Antonio Fresu, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
6pm: Khor Faridah – Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: JAP Almahfuz, Royston Ffrench, Irfan Ellahi
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: Mahmouda, Pat Cosgrave, Abdallah Al Hammadi
7pm: Abu Dhabi Colts Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: AS Jezan, George Buckell, Ahmed Al Mehairbi
7.30pm: Khor Laffam – Handicap (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m
Winner: Dolman, Antonio Fresu, Bhupath Seemar
India squads
T20: Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Krunal Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, Deepak Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Shivam Dube, Shardul Thakur
Test: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Dr Amal Khalid Alias revealed a recent case of a woman with daughters, who specifically wanted a boy.
A semen analysis of the father showed abnormal sperm so the couple required IVF.
Out of 21 eggs collected, six were unused leaving 15 suitable for IVF.
A specific procedure was used, called intracytoplasmic sperm injection where a single sperm cell is inserted into the egg.
On day three of the process, 14 embryos were biopsied for gender selection.
The next day, a pre-implantation genetic report revealed four normal male embryos, three female and seven abnormal samples.
Day five of the treatment saw two male embryos transferred to the patient.
The woman recorded a positive pregnancy test two weeks later.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The years Ramadan fell in May
Who is Tim-Berners Lee?
Sir Tim Berners-Lee was born in London in a household of mathematicians and computer scientists. Both his mother, Mary Lee, and father, Conway, were early computer scientists who worked on the Ferranti 1 - the world's first commercially-available, general purpose digital computer. Sir Tim studied Physics at the University of Oxford and held a series of roles developing code and building software before moving to Switzerland to work for Cern, the European Particle Physics laboratory. He developed the worldwide web code as a side project in 1989 as a global information-sharing system. After releasing the first web code in 1991, Cern made it open and free for all to use. Sir Tim now campaigns for initiatives to make sure the web remains open and accessible to all.
The biog
Name: Ayisha Abdulrahman Gareb
Age: 57
From: Kalba
Occupation: Mukrema, though she washes bodies without charge
Favourite things to do: Visiting patients at the hospital and give them the support they need.
Role model: Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women's Union, Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation and President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
