Europe Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald asks friend Michael Jordan for some advice

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FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (AP) — Long before Luke Donald was Europe's captain at the Ryder Cup, he was an amateur golfer at Northwestern University in the late 1990s and early 2000s. That time in the Chicago area overlapped with the tail end of Michael Jordan's heyday winning six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls.

Jordan liked to golf, the two became friends and remain so, now living nearby each other in Florida. Donald has not let that connection go to waste.

“Michael is someone I’ve been very fortunate to get access to and pick his brain occasionally about what made him tick, what motivated him, how he was able to get the best out of himself,” Donald said Tuesday. “It’s nice to have someone that is a legend of their sport — the greatest ever, quite arguably — to sit down occasionally and pick their brains.”

Donald expects Jordan, an American, to be supporting the U.S. at the Ryder Cup this week. But one of the lessons of MJ's career — which came through in the “Last Dance” documentary that Donald watched during the pandemic along with countless others — could help in the captain's role.

“You can be a team of champions but not a championship team,” Donald said. “You always need the people around you. You’re always stronger being a collective. I think that’s something that I certainly took from him, and I’ve tried to implant on my teams the last two times, that we’re always stronger together.”

President Donald Trump loves his golf and keeping in touch with players he knows. Scottie Scheffler is on that list.

“I get a call or a text from him sometimes after wins,” said Scheffler, who has won 15 times in the last two years alone, six times since Trump returned to the Oval Office.

“He just loves the game of golf, and he’s one of those guys when you’re around him, he does such a good job of feeding confidence into everybody around him.”

Asked what kind of message Trump sends, Scheffler said, “Great job.”

Trump is planning to attend the opening session Friday, though the PGA of America was still waiting to nail down the logistics of when he would arrive. One possibility was later in the morning to avoid any disruption for fans getting onto the course.

The matches cannot afford any delays because there are two sessions to get in before sunset.

“I don’t think he has any plans to address us as a team, but I’m sure if things go well, we’ll hear from him this week," Scheffler said.

Bad weather in the forecast has forced Ryder Cup officials to move the opening ceremony up one day to Wednesday at Bethpage Black.

The grand occasion of the opening ceremony typically is Thursday afternoon, during which the captains announce their lineups for the first session on Friday.

Now the ceremony, hosted by Today co-host Carson Daly and former Miss America Kira Dixon, will be 3 p.m. on Wednesday, when players enter the arena to great fanfare. Those who have Thursday tickets will be allowed to use them on Wednesday.

The pairings for the opening foursomes session on Friday still will be announced Thursday afternoon.

Players heading to the first tee won’t have to look far for a reminder of Bethpage Black’s difficulty.

The course’s iconic warning sign, usually affixed to a fence behind the first tee, has been relocated this week to the foot bridge that takes players from the practice area to the golf course. It’ll be right above them, posted on the back of a massive grandstand as they walk into a tunnel that cuts through the stands to the opening hole.

“The Black Course Is An Extremely Difficult Course Which We Recommend Only For Highly Skilled Golfers,” reads the sign, which has been greeting pros and duffers alike at the public course for decades.

The reason for the relocation this week was simple enough: a massive grandstand with seats for thousands of fans and views of the No. 1 and No. 18 holes now covers the fence where the sign usually sits. The PGA of America still wanted it to be visible to celebrate the heritage of that sign and its reminder of the Black's reputation.

One drawback: it might be difficult — even extremely difficult — for fans to get pictures and selfies with the sign, which is so associated with the Long Island course that it’s featured on some of the Ryder Cup merchandise.

But there’s a massive replica of the sign on the path fans take in and out of the golf course. And, if that’s not enough, there’s a huge Ryder Cup trophy, suitable for selfies, too.

Europe typically wins the day when it comes to leaning on its history in the Ryder Cup, and this week is no exception.

One of the videos Team Europe has put together for motivation is called, “Our Time. Our Place.” It celebrates all 37 players who have played on the four teams that won on U.S. soil.

Captain Luke Donald, who played on the teams that won at Oakland Hills (2004) and Medinah (2012), will be trying to join Bernhard Langer for having played in two road wins and captained another. Langer was on the 1987 team (Muirfield Village) and 1995 team (Oak Hill). He was the 2004 captain.

Another European win this week at Bethpage Black would allow 10 more players to join the list of road winners. Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose were on the Medinah team.

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AP Golf Writer Doug Ferguson contributed to this report.

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