Ryder Cup Europe confirmed that no injures were reported.
A structure at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club near Rome, Italy, went up in massive flames on Thursday just days after the club hosted the 2023 Ryder Cup.
A video surfaced on social media of a three-story hospitality stand engulfed in fire, producing large black smoke clouds that could be seen from miles away. Local news stated that five teams of firefighters are on the scene and that no injuries were reported. A notice was sent to local residents to close their windows.
“A fire was reported in one of the temporary hospitality structures to the right of the first fairway at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club earlier this afternoon,” a statement from Ryder Cup Europe read. “Local fire crews were called to the scene at 5:07 p.m. local time and quickly brought the blaze under control. Nobody was injured in the incident and the fire did not spread beyond the hospitality structure. There was no damage to the golf course or any over structure. The cause of the fire is currently being investigated.”
Hundreds of thousands of fans were at the club over the last week to witness Team Europe defeat Team USA and reclaim the Ryder Cup, 16½-11½.
Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome originally was designed by David Mezzacane and Jim Fazio and opened in 1989. The layout was completely renovated in 2018-2020 by a team of European Golf Design led by Dave Sampson in conjunction with Tom Fazio II, a leading American architect and the son of Jim Fazio – Tom Fazio worked for his dad on the original layout. The renovation included a complete rerouting of the hilly layout with the Ryder Cup in mind. With 155 feet of elevation change across the course, the holes were laid out to favor match play, with several drivable par 4s. Marco Simone is a public-access layout with tee times available on the course’s website.
The plans had been through a long and contentious process before eventually being given the green light.
Just days after members of the common council of an English city announced they’re fully behind a bid to bring the world-renowned Ryder Cup golf tournament to the borough, one of the European stars from the most recent biennial event has announced he’s also a supporter.
A bid is currently underway to host the historic competition at the major Hulton Park development in 2035 as the current tournament gets underway in Rome.
The proposal to build a luxury golf course and more than 1,000 houses had sparked major controversy but the authority says it believes hosting such a high-profile competition there could be hugely beneficial.
Deputy leader Akhtar Zaman said: “We are fully behind the bid to host the Ryder Cup in 2035.
“The argument has of course been going since 2018 and while we fully understand the concerns of local residents we think that now is the time to back this proposal.”
He added: “First of all there are the benefits of the tournament itself, with 75,000 visitors per day and all the benefits that will bring to the hospitality industry.”
On Tuesday, Tommy Fleetwood announced that he, too, is behind the proposal.
“I’ve studied the proposals for Hulton closely and seen the site for myself – it is an amazing landscape and the prospect of a purpose-built stadium course here would be fantastic for everyone concerned – for golf, for the tournament and for the game in England,” Fleetwood said on his official Instagram account.
A luxury golf course is expected to be built at Over Hulton (Image: Peel L&P)
“But perhaps more importantly, I love what this proposal offers to my corner of the country. I can see that it would inspire more people in the North West to take up the game and for those who don’t play golf, it will also bringing jobs, investment and tourism to the region and open up a huge new green space for the community.”
Fleetwood, who went 3-1 in the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone, grew up about 30 miles from the site. The Hulton site is also about 20 miles from the birthplace of Samuel Ryder, the namesake of the event.
Zaman said that the tournament could also prove beneficial to the borough’s global prestige and economy for years to come.
“We know that events like Ironman and the Food and Drink Festival have already brought a lot of recognition to Bolton,” he said. “I think that the Ryder Cup will really put Bolton on the world stage, it will bring over 1,000 jobs and there are the 1,000 homes which will really help with our housing shortage.”
The plans to build the Hulton Park development, capable of hosting the Ryder Cup, had been through a long and contentious process before eventually being given the green light.
The historic biennial competition is currently underway in Italy and developers Peel L&P had originally hoped Bolton’s bid would be made in either 2031 or 2035.
Planning director Richard Knight says the company needs more time to complete the project and so it’s now targeting 2035.
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Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester, he said: “The delay that we’ve had means that we’re now looking at 35, I think 31 would be a bit tight for us to build a new venue and clearly, we don’t want to rush a project such as this.”
The plan includes an 18-hole championship golf course with other facilities and more than 1,000 new houses in the Over Hulton area. Bolton Council planning committee members had voted almost unanimously to reject the bid at a special meeting held in February 2022. They cited concerns about the environment and effects on traffic and after campaigns by community groups like Hulton Estate Area Residents Together.
But since then, developers Peel L&P appealed against this refusal and a government planning inspector sharply criticized the planning committee’s decision.
In a scathing report published after a two-day inquiry held last October, inspector Dominic Young described the refusal decision as “unreasonable, irrational and injudicious to the extent that no reasonable authority would have made it.”
Inspectors ordered Bolton Council to pay just almost $500,000 in costs to the developers to cover the cost of the appeal, despite Peel L&P not having made any such request.
This sum of money was worth the equivalent of around $25,000 for every ward in Bolton.
Just a day after the 44th playing of the biennial bash between the Americans and Europeans, held this year at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club near Rome, Cantlay, 30, married Nikki Guidish 13 miles down the road at the St. Regis.
Guidish, a doctor of pharmacy, shared photos from the luxurious wedding on Tuesday on her Instagram page, writing “Yesterday was a dream” while she thanked her wedding planner, photographer and the staff at the venue. In attendance were the likes of Cantlay’s Ryder Cup teammate Justin Thomas, as well as LPGA player Jessica Korda.
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Cantlay’s week in Rome was marred by a controversy involving his decision to not wear a hat, which became the story of the week and even led to a dust-up on the 18th green Saturday night. Cantlay went 2-2-0 on the week in Rome and now has a 5-2-1 record in two Ryder Cup appearances for Team USA.
Is the Ryder Cup due for a close contest? Which new stars will shine? Will fans become a storyline?
Is it 2025 yet?
For golf fans across the globe the countdown to the 45th Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York, has already started despite the fact the 44th playing of the biennial bash between the United States and Europe is just one day in the rearview mirror.
For American fans, they want to wash away the embarrassing performance at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Italy last week. As for the European supporters, they want to ride the momentum of another win at home and avenge the historic loss at Whistling Straits in 2021.
A lot can happen over two years, especially in golf, but don’t let that get in the way of a fun thought exercise. Here are some way, way too early predictions for the 2025 Ryder Cup.
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Stefan Schauffele gave pointed comments on player payment at the Ryder Cup to multiple outlets on Sunday.
Xander Schauffele compiled a 1-3-0 record at last week’s Ryder Cup, but according to a report in The Times, his status on Team USA was up in the air until just a few weeks before the event.
Stefan Schauffele, Xander’s father, told The Times that his son’s place on Zach Johnson’s squad was in doubt due to a dispute over an agreement granting Netflix access to the team room for its Full Swing docuseries. The issue reportedly wasn’t resolved until just weeks before a team scouting trip to Marco Simone Golf and Country Club near Rome. Stefan also claimed the PGA of America used “strong-arming tactics.”
A report from Sky Sports during the Ryder Cup claimed there was friction in the U.S. team room, and that Patrick Cantlay was at the center of the conflict due to his beliefs that players who play in the Ryder Cup should be paid. The reporter, Jamie Weir, also shared that “Before the Ryder Cup it was widely reported that (Schauffele and Cantlay) were the ones refusing to allow Netflix cameras access to the team room.”
Before the Ryder Cup it was widely reported that the same pair were the ones refusing to allow Netflix cameras access to the team room.
Stefan claimed the “ink-smear” about a fractured team room may have developed Xander and Cantlay asking for a “player participation and benefit agreement,” which he said was sent in July, to be amended in three different places, one of which regarded the Netflix access. The U.S. went on to deny access to the team room to preserve the “sanctity and sacredness of Team USA” after a unanimous vote by Johnson and his players.
“The PGA of America were not willing to even talk to us about (the three amendments),” Stefan Schauffele told The Times. “It was very late in the schedule right before the team came here [to Rome] to practice because they had moved the deadline and they said, ‘If you don’t sign it by then, you’re off the team’, but they never gave us the contact information of their legal counsel.”
“Saturday morning of Labor Day weekend (Sept. 2), finally, the head of the PGA of America got wind of this, because it was not him that was blocking it, and put our lawyers in contact with the PGA of America’s general counsel, and then it took a few hours to hash it out and it was fine. Then I received a message that Xander was back on the team. That you can quote. That’s the extent of this and I think it’s shameful.”
Stefan confirmed the issue of players not being paid is a point of contention, but told the Times it wasn’t discussed in Rome “because it’s the wrong venue and time,” but does think a conversation needs to be had and sides need to come to the table to negotiate.
“The PGA of America and Ryder Cup Europe need to be more transparent and disclose how this money from the Ryder Cup is being distributed,” he said.
“They are using players’ intellectual properties to make money and the American players don’t get paid,” he added. “More importantly, this would become a non-issue if all proceeds, net proceeds, from the Ryder Cup were to be donated to common charitable causes. Right now, the American players are asked to donate their time pro-bono in the name of patriotism so these organizations can benefit from the profits.”
“The PGA (of America) uses this money, and the PGA Tour gets 20 percent that goes into the retirement of every member. The 12 players supposedly need to eat it and their intellectual property gets abused for the benefit of 200 other people. That’s not right.”
“If the PGA of America is a for-profit organization, they need to have the players share in that profit instead of being so damned intransparent about it with intent,” Stefan said. “They should reveal the numbers, and then we should go to the table and talk. Alternatively, they can donate all proceeds after opening the books to a charity of our joint choice, and then we will happily play for free. Please print that.”
“I think it’s absolutely non-controversial,” he continued. “Imagine if the winners got $2 million and the losers get nothing. How good of a competition would we have now? I think it could be made so much better because of that. I don’t see a negative there. I think we need to talk about it without bringing up the issue of patriotism, which I think is a really, really cheap shot. Because they’re so wrong, especially these (PGA of America members) are not owning any mirrors in their houses because they’re the ones that are not patriotic. Hopefully the conversation, in seriousness, leads to talks about it that make sense. And then everyone can be happy.”
The discussion around the Sky Sports report was never going to end with Cantlay’s denial, and Stefan Schauffele throwing gas on the sizzling fire has only ensured the discussion of players being paid will continue long after the 2023 Ryder Cup post-mortem ends.
“Rome wasn’t built in a day. But it was conquered in three.”
That was one of many posts on the Ryder Cup Europe social media accounts to celebrate the team’s 16½-11½ win over the United States in the 44th playing of the biennial bash, held this year at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club near Rome, Italy.
The team celebrations with the Cup in the hours and days that follow are always fun to see, and European captain Luke Donald foreshadowed what would be a fun night in his interview with Golf Channel’s Cara Banks just minutes after Europe secured the Cup.
“We always do it right in Europe, we do it right,” said Donald with a smile. “We’ll have a few drinks.”
Did they ever.
The chants started with “Two more years!” for the captain and transitioned to cheers of “Ole! Ole! Ole!” and songs of victory on the team bus. Check out the highlights from Team Europe’s epic Ryder Cup celebrations.
ROME – Patrick Cantlay may not have been on the winning Ryder Cup team on Sunday, but he’s got big plans for Monday.
Cantlay, 30, and fiancée Nikki Guidish, are tying the knot in Rome.
“Well, I am getting married tomorrow, yes,” Cantlay said during a press conference afterwards. “I’m very excited about it.”
The press room gave him a rare round of applause.
His wedding plans came up during a discussion about his headwear. Cantlay famously went hatless at the Ryder Cup, which became a hot topic of conversation. He claimed it was because the team hat didn’t fit his head while one report cited sources saying it was to protest the fact that players don’t get paid directly to play in the Ryder Cup.
There was some debate whether Cantlay chose not to wear a hat during the Ryder Cup because he didn’t want to have tan lines for his wedding day. That theory was posed by Stefan Schauffele, Xander’s father.
“I apologize for anything my dad said,” Schauffele said, breaking into laughter.
ROME – When it became a foregone conclusion that the European team had clinched the 44th Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, Rory McIlroy went galloping down the 18th fairway to celebrate with teammate Shane Lowry. The burly Irishman’s match was still to be decided but he squatted and lifted McIlroy in his arms as if a catcher and pitcher celebrating a World Series victory.
Sporting a five-point lead heading into Sunday Singles, Team Europe allowed things to get interesting for a hot second before reclaiming the Ryder Cup by a final score of 16 ½ – 11 ½. In the baking heat of the Eternal City, a partisan crowd broke into a chorus of Ole! Ole! Ole! And McIroy joined in the singing, “Champione! Champione! Champione!” Before long, he popped open a bottle of champagne, took a swig and relished in victory.
Less than 24 hours earlier, after losing a four-ball match, McIlroy was as mad as he’s ever been coming off the golf course. American Patrick Cantlay had drained a 43-foot birdie putt at 18 to flip the match and his caddie Joe LaCava waved his hat and interrupted McIlroy’s preparation to attempt a putt to tie the hole. McIlroy’s anger spilled out into the car park. He was headed for the U.S. locker room to tell them that LaCava’s conduct was a disgrace when he came across American caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay and had to be restrained by Lowry, who forced him into a car headed to the team hotel.
“He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” McIlroy said of Mackay. “I texted Bones this morning and apologized for that.”
Joe LaCava, caddie for American Patrick Cantlay, gestures with his cap on the 18th green during the Saturday afternoon fourball matches at the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome, Italy. (Photo: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Video of the incident went viral on social media. McIlroy said Lowry made sure he cooled off back at the hotel, dunking himself in a cold plunge.
But the person who may deserve the most credit for turning McIlroy’s frown upside down has been dead for centuries. On the way to the course, McIlroy, who is a student of Stoicism, read some of the meditations of Marcus Aurelius, the Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher.
“Seeing that we are in Rome, I thought it would be a good time to revisit some of his thoughts,” McIlroy said. “Humility and gentleness are better virtues than being frustrated and angry. I had to let it out but then I had to reset.”
It all started with “Hat-gate,” after a social media posting reported “a fracture” in the U.S. team locker room. Sky Sports’ Jamie Weir cited sources as saying Patrick Cantlay was protesting that players aren’t paid to play in the Ryder Cup – though they do receive a $200,000 donation to a charity of their choice – by not wearing a hat. Cantlay refuted the report as false, but the fans let him have it anyway, waving their hats at every chance, singing, “Patrick, Patrick, where’s your hat?” Another fan yelled, “Come work with me at the factory. We get paid by the hour.”
Cantlay took it all in stride and acknowledged the jabs and wisecracks with a smile and a thumbs up like a politician. The stunning reversal of his match in the gloaming on Saturday gave the U.S. side a glimmer of hope of making a comeback from a 10 ½ – 5 ½ deficit. But the incident with caddie Joe LaCava also served as fuel to the European side to give no mercy.
“I didn’t let it take away from what’s been a fantastic week. I used that little incident last night to my advantage,” McIlroy said. “I think what transpired in that last green, it gave us a little bit of a fire in our bellies to try and get the job done today.”
Rory McIlroy of Team Europe celebrates winning his match 3 and &1 on the 17th green during the Sunday singles matches of the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf Club on October 01, 2023 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
McIlroy did his part defeating Sam Burns 3 & 1, capping off a record of 4-1, most points scored by any player and his best showing in seven Ryder Cups. McIlroy, John Rahm and Viktor Hovland – Europe’s big three – combined for a record of 9-2-3. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who tied with Rahm on Sunday, went 0-2-1. The U.S. captain’s picks were a pitiful 4-12-4.
Two years ago, McIlroy broke down in tears on Saturday after losing his third straight match and was benched for the afternoon session. His emotions showed how much he cared for the event. But what was it that hurt the most about the team’s defeat at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin?
“The score line, 19-9. That hurt. It really did,” he said. “I didn’t feel like I gave my best performance, and I didn’t feel like I did my part for the team. And you know, there was a few of us up here that were on that team that wanted to come back, and everyone at the start of the week was talking about, oh, do you want to get revenge, do you want to get revenge on the U.S. Team, and this wasn’t about revenge. This was about redemption and showing what we could do.”
Team Europe captain Luke Donald and Team Europe celebrates with the Ryder Cup trophy after beating Team USA during the final day of the 44th Ryder Cup golf competition at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club. (Photo: Adam Cairns-USA TODAY Sports)
The victory on the rolling hills of Marco Simone, a mere 10 miles from the famed Colosseum wasn’t built in a day. European Captain Luke Donald built a plan that depended heavily on data analytics and his decision to start the first two sessions with foursomes (alternate shot) helped the Euros open a commanding lead.
“Not many people gave us a chance, I don’t think, especially two years ago,” Donald said. “Yeah, well, we proved them wrong.”
During a team scouting trip to Marco Simone, the team bonded around the fire pit.
“I got to know things about these guys,” McIlroy said. “I thought I knew them for a long time, but I got to know something different about them.”
This was supposed to be the year the American side finally won on European soil for the first time in 30 years. They planned to take advantage of a transition year for the Euros, who were going through a youth movement led by the 23-year-old hotshot Ludvig Aberg and 22-year-old Nicolai Hojgaard. The Euros proved to be more than capable of holding serve at home.
Hovland, one of two players to play all five matches for Team Europe, put the first point on the board for Donald’s team. Europe reached 14 ½ points to win back the cup after Tommy Fleetwood drove the green on the drivable par-4 16th and Rickie Fowler hit it in the water. After Fleetwood knocked his eagle putt to 2 feet, 8 inches, Fowler conceded the birdie putt to give Europe the half point needed to win.
It marked the eighth time in the last nine playings of the biennial event that the home team has won. The next Ryder Cup will be held in New York at Bethpage Black. Asked if home-field advantage has become too big of a deal in the Ryder Cup, McIlroy said, “So I’ve said this for the last probably six or seven years to anyone that will listen: I think one of the biggest accomplishments in golf right now is winning an away Ryder Cup. And that’s what we’re going to do at Bethpage.”
Then he pounded the table with his fist and his teammates cheered as McIlroy smiled the smile of a man already contemplating his next victory.
The next Ryder Cup will be staged at New York’s famed Bethpage Black, where fans won’t hold back.
While Rory McIlroy and Joe LaCava haven’t yet met face-to-face to talk about hat-gate, they have texted, and McIlroy said during Team Europe’s Ryder Cup press conference that everything will be fine.
“It’s a point of contention and it still hurts,” said McIlroy, “but time is a great healer and we’ll all move on.”
It was a Saturday morning report from SkySports journalist Jamie Weir that began a storyline that ultimately engulfed the events in Rome. Weir said Patrick Cantlay’s refusal to wear a team hat centered around his desire for Ryder Cup players to get paid. European fans reacted by waving their hats at the American player all weekend.
The whole scene culminated Saturday evening with Cantlay’s caddie, Joe LaCava, waving his hat after Cantlay drained a match-winning putt to give the U.S. team life heading into singles.
Understand from several sources that the US team room is fractured, a split led predominantly by Patrick Cantlay. Cantlay believes players should be paid to participate in the Ryder Cup, and is demonstrating his frustration at not being paid by refusing to wear a team cap.
McIlroy took issue with LaCava’s antics, and his frustrations boiled over in the parking lot when he had to be restrained while talking to caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay. The Northern Irishman texted Mackay Sunday morning and apologized. Shane Lowry was the one who stepped in to pull McIlroy away and get him inside a courtesy car.
“He was the first American I saw after I got out of the locker room,” said McIlroy, “so he was the one that took the brunt of it. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
When asked if he was much of a car-park scrapper, McIlroy said “No, but if I need to … ”
Added Lowry: “I had to do all the work. I was going to have to do all the work.”
McIlroy said he was relieved that Lowry intervened, noting that he took him down to the hotel’s cold plunge to quite literally cool off.
“We talked about it as a team last night,” said McIlroy. “We felt like it was disrespectful, and it wasn’t just disrespectful to Fitz and I. It was disrespectful to the whole team.
“I get that we get the banter when we go over to the States and play, and you know, the same happens here. It’s just the way it is. It the way the Ryder Cup goes. You have to have thick skin. That’s just the way it is.”
Cantlay said he took the crowds taunts and turned them into fuel.
Patrick Cantlay insists there isn’t “a shred of truth” in what SkySports journalist Jamie Weir wrote about his decision not to wear a Ryder Cup team hat.
For starters, Cantlay said, the hats didn’t fit. He called the report, now known as hat-gate, “totally false.”
Weir tweeted on Saturday that sources told him Cantlay’s hatless appearance was due to his belief that Ryder Cup players should be paid. He also said that Cantlay’s opinions had fractured the team room.
“It’s crazy that one journalist can put a tweet out there totally unfounded with complete lies,” Cantlay told the media after his 2-and-1 singles victory over Justin Rose. “The crowd ran with it, and I tried to have fun with them all day, smile.”
Cantlay said he took the crowds taunts and turned them into fuel.
“I did my best to embrace it,” he said.
European fans waved their hats at Cantlay on Saturday as he almost single-handedly gave the Americans something to smile about with a string of big-time putts to close out Saturday’s four-ball match. “Hats off to your bank account” and “Show me the money” were two favorite chants from the raucous crowd.
Rory McIlroy, who still had a putt left on the 18th hole after another Cantlay make, took issue with Cantlay’s caddie, Joe LaCava taking off his own hat and getting in the way on the green. McIlroy, who later had to be restrained in the parking lot Saturday night, said he still hasn’t talked to LaCava about the incident.
Cantlay, nicknamed “Patty Ice,” earned two points for Team USA in Rome and improved his singles record at the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup to 4-0-0. He went 2-2-0 overall at the 2023 Ryder Cup, which the Europeans won the 2023 Ryder Cup 16 ½ to 11 ½.
After the matches were over, Cantlay confirmed his big plans for Monday during the U.S.’s media session.
Patrick Cantlay confirms he is getting married tomorrow. The rare round of applause in the media center.
