Stepping into the role as a Ryder Cup vice-captain would usually suggest your playing days are behind you.
Francesco Molinari refused to rule out representing Europe for the fourth time in the biennial dust-up with the USA in 2025 and perhaps you wouldn’t write off his chances just yet despite his significant dip in form of recent years.
The Italian is an Open Champion, the only major winner from Italy. He is a PGA Tour winner and winner at Wentworth which happened in the same year he claimed the Claret Jug. He might’ve also rewritten history had his third shot on hole 15 in the final round of the 2019 Masters not found water, helping to clear the way for Tiger Woods to win his 15th major.
For a while there, everything Molinari touched turned to gold. But as he ticks over 40, his play from yesteryear hasn’t carried into 2024. While recollecting his happy and successful vice-captaincy to Luke Donald at the 2023 Ryder Cup in his home country, he would love nothing more than to lead his continent into battle, despite harbouring hopes of stepping up with driver in hand on the 1st tee one more time.
“I don’t know,” he told NCG at Wentworth. “It’s something that I’d love to experience one day. It’s not something anyone can take for granted. There are a lot of great players and great candidates for future captaincies, but yeah, it was a very interesting experience from my point of view two years ago (2023 Ryder Cup).
“Hopefully I’m a little bit more prepared this time around. You do something you haven’t done before and you learn something about yourself, and it’s a great experience, so let’s see what the future brings.
“I still think if I play my best, I can still make the team, but we’ll see later in the year and next season, how things have gone. I’d love to be involved, I’d love to help Luke, my brother, and Thomas again and whoever else is going to be on the team.
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“It’s going to be a tough task winning away, stats show it’s a really hard thing to do, but it’s a great opportunity for us, it would be something historical if we manage to pull it off, so I’d love to be a part of it in whatever capacity.”
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Francesco Molinari: Ryder Cup record-breaker could be perfect captain fit
Europe has a long list of stars who served with distinction both in their prime and approaching the twilight of their careers. Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Justin Rose and Colin Montgomerie come to mind as part of the blue and gold furniture, and that is just this side of the millennium. The matches against America at Bethpage are 12 months away, and Molinari wants to be involved.
The 41-year-old made a memorable debut in 2010 at the wet Celtic Manor with his brother Edoardo. He also halved with Woods in the final match of the Sunday singles at the Miracle of Medinah, meaning Europe won the trophy outright in dramatic fashion, having trailed 10-6 after the first two days.
However, his first two appearances at the event pale in memory and significance when compared to his contribution to the 2018 Ryder Cup in France. He became the first-ever European to score the maximum five points across the week, culminating in beating Phil Mickelson on the 16th hole at Le Golf National to clinch the trophy.
The pool of captains circling the hot seat has shrunk since the emergence of the LIV Golf League. It’s hard to see a path for the likes of defectors Westwood and Poulter, plus Henrik Stenson who was removed from the role for moving to LIV Golf and replaced with Donald. They aren’t members of the DP World Tour anymore, not to mention a lack of interaction and path-crossing with probable team members in New York next year, and beyond.
Francesco’s brother Edoardo’s role for Team Europe is stats-based and vital as captain Donald among many would say. Numbers and intricacies are his forte which could mean overseeing the entire Team Europe control board is unlikely. Thomas Bjorn and Jose Maria Olazabal were vice-captains in Rome last time, but have already been winning captains in their own right.
DP World Tour stalwart and popular Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts could be an option in years to come after this process of elimination, but perhaps the strongest indication that Molinari is near the front of the queue is his selection as captain of the Continental European side taking on GB&I led by Justin Rose in the Team Cup in January.
This team match play event is a chance for the authorities of Team Europe to blood prospective players, give them a taste of shot-making under the gun and give Molinari and Rose a taste of the captaincy role. It makes perfect sense and it is a strategy that speaks to Europe’s long-established dominance in the Ryder Cup this century (They’ve won eight of the last 11 editions).
“It is something that has a history in Europe,” Molinari added. “It used to be the Seve trophy, I played in a couple of those many years ago. There are a few big positives for the captain, for Luke in this case, to see some of the young players in the team environment, how they interact with other people and how they play under that sort of pressure.
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“It’s nothing like the Ryder Cup but it is the same sort of format. It’s a smart move what they did two years ago when they brought it back to the beginning of the year because I think it’s easier for players to commit at the beginning of the year, to start the season. You have a few rounds guaranteed, it’s match play so you don’t really need to put a score up on the board and I think it’s a great way from a player’s perspective to start the season.”
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