LUKE Donald can consider himself hard done by to miss out on selection for Europe’s Ryder Cup team, but the same would have been true for the players picked ahead of him, Stephen Gallacher, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood.

That is the view of Rod Jones, chairman of Hazlemere Golf Club, where Donald is a two-time junior club champion and an honourary member.

He said: “Paul [McGinley, captain] had some tough choices and I’m just glad he was the one who had to make them.

“We still have a lot of members who remember Luke playing here and there is a lot of interest when he plays so we were disappointed when he wasn’t in.

“A few months ago we probably expected him to get in – everything seemed to be going that way – but a few weeks ago we were hoping he’d get in so it wasn’t a total surprise.”

Meanwhile, European team vice captain Sam Torrence said: “There is no question the phone call Paul had to make was the hardest thing he's had to do as captain to date.

“It's the hardest aspect of the Ryder Cup captaincy because there's always one person you have to leave out that you wish you could put in.

“But it just shows the strength of the European team when someone like Luke Donald will sit out.”