If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.
Team Europe has not only re-appointed Luke Donald as captain but Edoardo Molinari as his vice-captain too.
The Italian’s focus on statistical analysis proved crucial in Europe’s impressive victory over the United States at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome last year.
The 42-year-old and his Open-winning brother Francesco both served as vice-captains in their home country, helping the blue and gold side to a 16.5 – 11.5 win against an American team led by Zach Johnson.
“Luke called me the very day he was named captain, a little before the official announcement, and said he really enjoyed working with me in Rome and would like my help again,” Molinari said.
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“We had another chat about a week later, maybe 30 or 40 minutes on the phone, chatted about a few things and he asked me and I said, of course, I would happily do it all over again.
“I think Rory (McIlroy) put it best in the press conference after Rome, he said the most difficult thing in golf these days is to win an away Ryder Cup.
“It hasn’t been done in many years now, Luke was part of the team in Medinah, the last one that Europe won away, and hopefully we can produce something similar.”
Praise was heaped on both Donald and Molinari in the aftermath of Europe taking the cup back in 2023, so their returns to the backroom team in 2025 at Bethpage are not all that surprising.
Donald, who is Europe’s first repeat captain since Bernard Gallacher in 1993, expressed his delight at working with Molinari once more.
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“Edoardo is someone I have got to know very well over the last couple of years and he’s going to be a great addition again for the 2025 Ryder Cup,” he said.
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“He plays a very significant role. He’s playing full-time out here on the DP World Tour, he’s a good player, a Ryder Cupper and he knows what it’s all about. He’s around the players a lot and he works with a lot of players on their statistics as well.
“I’ll lean heavily on him with the qualification criteria and then when we get close to the matches, how the team is forming, how their skillsets match to the golf course at Bethpage and whether they’re more foursomes-related pairings, fourballs-related players, and putting those pairings together.”
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