Tag: Marco Simone

Less than 100 days to Italy: Updated look at the potential European 2023 Ryder Cup team

Here’s an updated look at who could be bound for Italy.

Mark your calendars, golf fans. The Ryder Cup is less than 100 days away.

That’s right, in just about three months the United States will look to not just defend its Cup title against the Europeans, but also win for the first time on foreign soil in 30 years.

Twelve of the best players from the U.S. will take on Europe’s 12 best at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome, Italy, for the 2023 Ryder Cup, Sept. 29–Oct. 1, and the teams are starting to take shape.

Qualification for Team Europe began at the 2022 BMW PGA Championship and ends Sept. 3, 2023, three weeks before the Ryder Cup. Six players will automatically qualify, three from a European Points List and three from a World Points List. Captain Luke Donald will then announce his six captain’s picks. DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley said LIV Golf players can still represent Team Europe, but qualification may be difficult.

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Here’s an updated look at what the European team may look like less than 100 days out from Italy.

MORE: Updated look at Team USA

Fred Couples will serve as vice captain for the United States at the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome

The 2023 Ryder Cup is scheduled for Sept. 29-Oct. 1 at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome.

On Wednesday, United States Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson announced he has brought on Fred Couples as a vice captain.

Couples represented the U.S. in five Ryder Cups, and this will be his third time serving as a vice captain.

“Freddie has the unique ability to relate and get along with every player, no matter their age,” Johnson said in a statement. “In turn, they respect and admire him, which ultimately creates a positive team dynamic. There’s a reason he’s been a vice captain three times. I know Freddie will do everything in his power to help our U.S. Team be successful in Italy.”

Couples was part of the winning staff in the 2021 edition at Whistling Straits.

“Competing as a player in the Ryder Cup and serving as a Vice Captain for the U.S. Team top the list of the most fulfilling weeks of my career,” Couples said in a release. “Zach is an incredible leader, and I look forward to helping him over the next five months and in Italy to bring home a victory.”

The 2023 Ryder Cup is scheduled for Sept. 29-Oct. 1 at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome, Italy.

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‘It would be incredible’: In search of making European Ryder Cup team, Francesco Molinari tied for lead at Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship

Francesco Molinari wants to be a member of the European Ryder Cup team this fall.

There’s no sugar-coating it: Francesco Molinari wants to be a member of the European Ryder Cup team this fall.

For the Italian, to represent the European squad on home soil would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and it would mean Molinari had found some form from 5 years ago when he won his only major championship at Carnoustie.

That’s why his start at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at Yas Links in the United Arab Emirates is a confidence boost, though Molinari knows there’s plenty of golf left to be played. He’s tied for the lead with fellow countryman Guido Migliozzi at 10 under after the second round, searching for his first win in four years and a big boost to make it back on the Ryder Cup squad.

“I don’t want to get ahead of myself,” Molinari said. “It’s a couple of good rounds but I know, I’m aware of where I’m coming from. So like I said yesterday, the game feels different. I think it looks different, too. But yeah, it’s just two rounds, so a long way to go.”

The Ryder Cup is scheduled for Sept. 29-Oct. 1 at Marco Simone in Rome.

Molinari’s game dipped following a three-win stretch in 2018-19. At one point, he was ranked as high as fifth in the Official World Golf Ranking. Now, he’s at 166. He didn’t make the European Ryder Cup team in 2021 after playing in three previous editions of the competition.

After consecutive 5-under 67s to begin in Abu Dhabi, he’s in position to get a big boost in making the team. His brother, Edoardo, will be an assistant captain for the Europeans, too.

“I think obviously you don’t need my answer; it would be incredible (to be on the team),” Molinari said. “Yeah, there’s many months to go. It’s obviously nice to start the season this way. I never needed a pick for my three Ryder Cups, so it would be nice not to need a pick again this year.”

Migliozzi shot 3-under 69 on Friday to follow up his stellar opening round of 7-under 65. The pair lead Jason Scrivener by a shot.

Luke Donald, the 2023 European Ryder Cup captain who led after a first-round 64, shot 3 over and is T-22.

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Shane Lowry addresses transition period in European golf ahead of 2023 Ryder Cup

“It’s up to us, the rest of the lads to get our game to a level where we are good enough to win The Ryder Cup.”

Shane Lowry acknowledges that European golf is heading through a major transition.

With the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone in Rome quickly approaching, Lowry knows the European team is going to look vastly different than the one comprised at Whistling Straits in 2021, which fell 19-9 to the youngest American squad ever.

The Europeans are going to be much younger in Italy. With the departure of numerous European stalwarts to LIV Golf, deeming them ineligible for the Ryder Cup, players like Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Paul Casey have perhaps played their last competition representing the Europeans.

Speaking ahead of the DP World Tour’s Hero Cup this week, Lowry doesn’t see a youth movement for Europe as a bad thing.

“I think it was always going to be that way, if you look at The Ryder Cups over the last 10 years, I think we have — the two best players in the world are European players at the minute I feel with Jon (Rahm) and Rory (McIlroy). It’s up to us, the rest of the lads to get our game to a level where we are good enough to win The Ryder Cup at the end of the year.

The Hero Cup is a new event for the DP World Tour that mimics the Ryder Cup. Ten teams of two are competing over three days against one another, and there are plenty of younger, hungry Europeans looking to earn their way onto the team fo/r the first time.

A week in this format could give them a glimpse of what to expect come September.

“It’s great for the younger lads that are here this week to be around the likes of Francesco (Molinari) and Tommy (Fleetwood) and myself and Tyrrell (Hatton) and lads like that. And to have Paul McGinley and José Maria Olazabal and Edoardo (Molinari) and Luke (Donald) here is pretty good. I feel like we have the bonds of a very strong team come September, and I hope that we all step up when it comes to it.

“And like I say, one of my main goals this year is to win The Ryder Cup and I hope to be a part of that team and hoping to be there and hopefully win it back.”

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Ryder Cup 2023: Luke Donald names Nicolas Colsaerts as European vice captain at Marco Simone

The Europeans have selected their third vice captain.

Luke Donald has added more experience to bolster his team room ahead of the 2023 Ryder Cup.

He announced Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts as the European team’s third vice captain on Tuesday, joining Thomas Bjorn and Edoardo Molinari.

“My first reaction when Luke asked me was sheer joy,” Colsaerts said. “Every time I hear the words ‘Ryder Cup,’ it takes me back to the edition I played in, how proud I was to wear the European colors and be part of such an unbelievable event. Of course, Luke was in that team, too, and when we spoke he mentioned how much he has always loved what the Ryder Cup means to me.

“Being a vice captain is a different role to being a player but, nevertheless, my mission in 2023 will be exactly the same as it was in 2012, namely, to make a contribution to the team in any way I can.”

During that 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah, Colsaerts went 1-3-0, his lone win coming in four-ball. He and partner Lee Westwood had eight birdies and an eagle throughout the round and beat Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker on the final hole.

Colsaerts has won three times on the DP World Tour, his latest being the 2019 Open de France. He has played in 436 DP World Tour events.

“Nico has been on my mind for a couple of months now, to be honest,” Donald said. “I played in the team with him in 2012, and you could just see how much it meant to him. He understands what it means to represent the European crest and what it means to be part of the Ryder Cup set-up. When I asked him, he literally had goosebumps – so I am very happy to have him as my third vice captain.”

The 2023 Ryder Cup will be contested at Marco Simone in Rome, Italy, from Sept. 26-Oct. 1, 2023.

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Photos: Ryder Cup captains Luke Donald, Zach Johnson tour Rome one year out from matches in Italy

The American and European captains saw everything from the Vatican to the Colosseum.

The countdown to the 2023 Ryder Cup is officially underway.

The best golfers from the United States and Europe will venture to Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome, September 29–October 1., where Italy will host the Ryder Cup for the first time in the event’s 96-year history.

Captains Luke Donald and Zach Johnson participated in a series of Ryder Cup Year To Go celebrations over three days in Rome that ended with the pair holding a private audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican. They also visited the Colosseum, hit shots from the Temple of Venus and Roma and attended a gala dinner at the exclusive Palazzo Colonna.

Rory McIlroy in front, Matt Fitzpatrick a shot back in Italian Open at Marco Simone, site of 2023 Ryder Cup

Rory McIlroy is again at the top of the leaderboard.

It’s safe to say Rory McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick are enjoying Marco Simone, site of the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome, Italy.

McIlroy sits at 9 under while Fitzpatrick is at 8 under following their second rounds during the DS Automobiles Italian Open. McIlroy leads after a birdie on the closing par-5 18th to shoot 5-under 66. Fitzpatrick, who led after the opening round, shot a 2-under 69 and is in solo second.

The second round was suspended because of darkness, with McIlroy’s group finishing right as play was called for the day. It will resume at 8 a.m. local time (2 a.m. ET), and the third round will begin no earlier than 10 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET).

2022 Italian Open
Rory McIlroy hits his second shot on the 18th hole of the 2022 DS Automobiles Italian Open at Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome, Italy. (Photo: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)

Last week in the BMW PGA Championship, McIlroy finished tied for second with Jon Rahm, one shot behind winner Shane Lowry. He’s also playing in two weeks in the Alfred Dunhill Links, which is contested at the Old Course at St. Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns.

European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald had a strong day, recording eight birdies, but a triple on the par-4 16th help him to a round of 3-under 68. He sits at 5 under for the tournament, tied for fifth in a group including Tyrrell Hatton, among others.

After an even-par opening round, Viktor Hovland shot 3-under 68 and is tied for 21st. Also T-21 is Alex Fitzpatrick, Matt’s younger brother.

The cut is expected to be 1 over, though it could change Saturday morning.

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Rory McIlroy to make Italian Open debut at Marco Simone, site of 2023 Ryder Cup

“I think when you win and when you do things, it energizes you more than anything else.”

Rory McIlroy just captured the PGA Tour’s 2022 Tour Championship, yet he’s not taking much time off.

McIlroy, who Sunday became the first golfer to win three FedEx Cups, will head across the pond and play three times in four weeks, including a stop at Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome, which is hosting the 2023 Ryder Cup. The course is also hosting the 2022 Italian Open from Sept. 15-18, and McIlroy is slated to make his tournament debut.

“I have a whopping one week off coming up and then I go to Europe for three out of four weeks, playing quite a bit over there,” McIlroy said after winning in Atlanta on Sunday. “But maybe that’s a little less intense than what we’ve just been through the last three weeks in the Playoffs here.

“Again, I think when you win and when you do things, it energizes you more than anything else. It makes you want to do it more.”

McIlroy won three times during the Tour’s 2021-22 season, including a come-from-behind victory in the Tour Championship, and he finished in the top eight of all majors this calendar year.

Now, he’s heading to Europe, where in two weeks he’ll tee it up at Wentworth in the BMW PGA Championship on Sept. 8-11. He’s also set to play in the Alfred Dunhill Links, Sept. 29-Oct. 2.

McIlroy is also in position to win the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai, the season-long points race. He’s in first by more than 300 points. He has won the title three times but not since 2015.

“Look, it’s been a long few weeks and I’m looking forward to just chilling for a few days, but yeah, it gets you excited to get out there and play again because you’re playing well and you want to have this feeling more often,” McIlroy said.

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