For the first time in the history of the Ryder Cup, two brothers will be among the vice-captains of team Europe at the Ryder Cup in Rome. After Edoardo, Francesco Molinari also joins Luke Donald‘s staff towards the super challenge between the Old Continent and the USA which, for the first time in its history, will be played in Italy, on the course of the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club , from next 29 September to 1 October.
For an event, the third in the world for media importance, increasingly made in Italy.In 2010, 47 years after Bernard and Geoff Hunt (in 1963 they were part of the Great Britain team, only from 1979 it is Europe-USA), the Molinaris at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, Wales, established themselves as the first brothers to achieve victory in the Ryder Cup ten months after having given Italy (in November 2009) the first World Cup in the history of Italian golf thanks to the triumph in China.From club competitions through the Italian championships, up to the World Cup and the Ryder Cup, first as players, now as vice-captains.
Dodo and Chicco started playing as a couple at the age of 7 in Turin. And now, together, they will be among the protagonists, albeit not on the field, of the 44th edition of the Ryder Cup.The italian brothers. It will be an even more special event that in 44 days will start in the Eternal City.
Francesco Molinari is in fact the fifth and last vice-captain of the Europe team and joins his brother Edoardo, the Dane Thomas Bjorn, the Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts and the Spaniard Josè Maria Olazabal. The 40-year-old from Turin, with a degree in Business Administration, played and won three Ryder Cups respectively in 2010, 2012 (in the USA, he drew with Tiger Woods in the singles match) and 2018 when, in Paris, he became the first continental player to win all five matches played, thus signing the new European record.
But Francesco Molinari has written historical pages of Italian golf, also distinguishing himself as the first blue to establish himself in a Major, the oldest one, The Open, also in 2018 (in Carnoustie, Scotland), his golden year, also embellished by the ‘exploit in the BMW PGA Championship (in Wentworth, England) and the victory in the Race to Dubai (the order of merit of the then European Tour, now DP World Tour) which led him to first receive the Collar d’Oro (highest honor of Italian sport) and then the World Sport Star of the Year award at the UK Sports Personality of The Year Awards.
In his palmares he boasts eight successes between the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour, the last of which arrived in the USA in 2019 when he made him the Arnold Palmer Invitational after making a “hole in one” in the opening round.So the Team Europe for the Ryder Cup in Rome is beginning to take shape, where 300,000 spectators from all over the world are expected.
And if Donald has come full circle as regards the vice-captains, the qualifications will end on 3 September next at the end of the Omega European Masters. Then, the next day, the Englishman will dissolve the reserves and assign the six wild cards available to him.
To date, together with the Northern Irish Rory McIlroy and the Spanish Jon Rahm, respectively number 2 and 3 in the world, also the Norwegian Viktor Hovland, fifth in the world ranking, has taken the pass for the eagerly awaited Ryder Cup 2023.
Francesco Molinari, statements
Francesco Molinari, Vice-captain of Team Europe: “I am very proud.
I started 2023 with the hopes of participating in this Ryder Cup as a player, but being the vice-captain is a great honour. When I received Donald’s call, I didn’t think about it for a moment and immediately decided to accept.
I join a staff made up of great people. The best moment I experienced in the Ryder Cup was certainly making my debut alongside Edoardo in Wales and experiencing for the first time what it meant to be part of Team Europe. It is really special to be with him again in Rome, in Italy, in our country.
Wearing these colors is a source of pride and I will do everything to help Donald and the team bring the trophy back to Europe.”
