Continuity has been the key for the European team as they look to buck the trend of dominant home victories at the biennial event.
Donald was given a second successive term after proving a popular – and successful – captain in Rome, while 11 of the 12 players who earned victory also return.
However, he has decided against naming the same four pairings which helped Europe race 4-0 ahead at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club.
Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg and Norway’s Victor Hovland have been split up, with Aberg partnering Fitzpatrick, while Hovland joins forces with Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre.
Ireland’s Shane Lowry and Austria’s Sepp Straka will both sit out of the opening session.
Rookie Rasmus Hojgaard, who replaced his twin brother Nicolai in the only change to Europe’s team, also has to wait.
“It’s two years ago, Rome, players evolve, players change, their profiles change and you’re looking at personality match-ups,” said Donald.
“We have so many options that it’s really quite fun as a captain.
“But we know the US are going to be strong. They’re strong in foursomes. They have some amazing partnerships there and we wanted to bring our best as well and this is what we feel is our best.”
Both Donald and Bradley know success in the foursomes format has been a reliable indicator of overall outcomes in recent Ryder Cups.
At Whistling Straits four years ago the US took the opening foursomes 3-1 en route to a record 19-9 victory. In 2016 they won the Friday foursomes session 4-0 at Hazeltine and Europe never truly recovered.
“I’ve been preparing for 21 months for this,” added Donald.
“We understand the task in hand, we understand how difficult it is to win away, but we have done it – we’ve won four times since 1987 to the US’ one win away.
“So it has been done, and we will certainly draw on those experiences.”
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