Shane Lowry played down Keegan Bradley’s warning that the USA is going to “kick their f***ing ass” and has no doubt the US skipper will have his team fired up for the Ryder Cup at Bethpage.

Bradley fuelled expectations for September’s clash in New York by delivering some fiery comments in front of the Netflix cameras after clinching the winning point for the USA in last year’s Presidents Cup win in Canada.

In a fiery pep talk to the US team included in the new series of Full Swing, Bradley said: “I’m gonna get criticised as the captain next year. They’re gonna underestimate me. They’re gonna doubt me. I’ve been doubted my whole f***ing life. That’s when I do my best work.

“We’re gonna go to Bethpage to kick their f***ing ass!”

Asked if he’d seen the clip, Lowry grinned and told Golf Channel on the eve of the Cognizant Classic: “Oh yeah. We’ve all seen it.”

But in keeping with Europe’s low-key strategy for dealing with what’s expected to be a hostile New York atmosphere, he didn’t take up the gauntlet thrown down by Bradley or suggest that Europe would underestimate the US skipper.

“Obviously, I saw it,” Lowry said. “Look, they’re going to be fired up to go beat us. Keegan is going to be a great captain, and we’re under no illusion that [he won’t be].

“‘We’re certainly not going to doubt him. And I’m sure Luke Donald is going to prepare his team as best he can, and we’ll give it a go when it comes to it.”

European vice-captain Francesco Molinari added: “It’s not a big deal. Those things happen all the time. … I can understand why Keegan did it. We love to win. They love to win. What Keegan said was not out of bounds.”

Donald is playing the Cognizant Classic this week, but while Bradely’s comments were not mentioned in his Golf Channel interview, he downplayed a great start to the PGA Tour season by European players, the absence of LIV players Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton from regular PGA Tour action, and Norway’s Viktor Hovland's loss of form.

On early season wins for Ludvig Aberg, Rory McIlroy, Sepp Straka and Thomas Detry, Donald said: “Great start, great momentum. Really happy to see so many Europeans winning, but it is early.

“You know, we have another seven months to go or so, and four major championships and a lot of golf to be played. 

“So not getting too far ahead, but it's a really nice start. And certainly, as a captain, that puts a smile on my face.”

Donald said he was not perturbed by not seeing Rahm or Hatton as much since their move to LIV Golf or the uncertainty caused by the reunification talks with the PIF.

“I'm in touch with them a little bit more than I would because I'm just not seeing them as much on the road,” Donald said. “So little things like that are changed. 

“But again, it's all part of the captaincy. It’s not meant to be the easiest task, especially when you playing away and with everything going around in golf

“Yeah, there are challenges at times, but again, that's up to me to sort of manage those.

“And Viktor, another one. I'm not really too worried about Viktor; he's a stud. He's going to start playing great, and he's not really that far off, to be honest, if you look at the stats.

“So yeah, again, I'm keeping an eye on everyone with a point of trying to get the best 12 players to New York.”

Donald knows it won’t be easy to win away from home, but after playing on a winning team in Detroit in 2004 and Chicago in 2012, he does not expect New York to be a walk in the park.

“A lot of the advantages we had in Rome, the crowd, the people behind us, all the energy that we felt, that will be a disadvantage now,” he said. 

“That will be on Team USA, so a different strategy is needed for an away Ryder Cup.

“We certainly have things in place, a good template of things that we go to that have been successful for us for 20-30 years when we play home Ryder Cups.

“But we haven't been as successful away. And it's up to me to figure out how to turn those disadvantages into advantages.

“It's not an easy process, but it's something I've certainly been working on for the last six months, year or so.”