“Two more years, two more years,” rang out in Bethpage Black as it did in Rome. Luke Donald is clearly the players choice should he opt to become the first three-time European Ryder Cup captain since Bernard Gallacher but the Italian axis which made up his backroom team has also been tipped to lead at Adare Manor in 2027.
Francesco Molinari and Edoardo Molinari have been vital cogs to Donald’s success with Edoardo, or “Dodo” heralded as much more than a stats guy. The Italian brothers played in the 2010 Ryder Cup together at Celtic Manor while Francesco earned five points on his last appearance in 2018.
Justin Rose seemed the obvious candidate to lead Europe in Limerick but after another impressive season and performance in New York the Englishman has aspirations of making an eighth Ryder Cup appearance as a 47-year-old. With Graeme McDowell still out of the running for now, might Europe look from within and go for an Italian job?
“Fran was fantastic, as were all the vice captains,” said Matt Fitzpatrick. “I had a lot of good conversations with them all. I know Luke already said it in his press conference but I think Edoardo is very, not underappreciated, but I guess — well, no, I think underappreciated is the right thing. He is very appreciated by Team Europe, but I think in the outside world, it’s very much, oh, he’s just the stats guy or whatever.
“But to me, Edoardo is No. 1 in the business by a complete mile. How he’s helped Luke and the vice captains and how he’s shaped the team, pairings, qualification, has been outstanding in my opinion. I think there’s a lot of credit that needs to go to Edoardo as well.
“Then in terms of Fran, yeah, Fran is a great character to have around. He’s got great sense of humour. He’s very similar to Luke in that he’s quite quiet and reserved and probably very analytical in his thinking. Obviously a great option. I’m sure there’s plenty of people that are good enough to do the job. Obviously Luke, like Rahmbo said, he’s created a high bar for the next guys that come in.”
Tommy Fleetwood, who was one half of the famous Moliwood pairing in Paris, joked that Rose looks like he could be playing Ryder Cups until his very last days but feels Donald has left an amazing blueprint for whoever the next captain is.
“I think the ball is probably in Luke’s court, and I think he’s earned that. Justin is going to be playing in the Ryder Cup when he’s 102 years old, maybe. Like we might have to wait awhile for Justin to be a captain.
“And Francesco, I spoke to Francesco about it numerous times. I think the respect he has for his peers and the players, his accomplishments and his experience, I think goes a long way to being a Ryder Cup Captain. It’s up to the individual if they want to put their names forward and see where it goes from there.
“Whether it’s Luke or anybody else, I think we have an amazing blueprint as Team Europe, and I think we have amazing captains lying in wait that will do an amazing job. We’ll see where we go in the future. But I think we are in good hands for a long time.”
