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Luke Donald has named his first Ryder Cup assistant for the 2025 match at Bethpage Black – and he couldn’t be more excited.
The European captain is already assembling his backroom team as preparations begin for next year’s showdown in New York.
And after his invaluable role in helping Europe to a dominant 16.5-11-5 victory over the US in his native Italy last year, it’s no surprise Donald has once again turned to his stats genius Edoardo Molinari for the away match.
“Couldn’t be more excited to have @DodoMolinari back as my 1st Vice Captain for Beth Page,” Donald wrote on X, announcing the news. “My chief strategist, stats guru is back and I’m happy to share this journey with you Dodo.”
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On the appointment, Donald said: “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.
“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 skill sets match to the golf course at Bethpage and whether they’re more foursomes-related pairings, fourballs-related players, and putting those pairings together.
“We spent a lot of time together over the last couple of years, we grew very close. He was extremely important to the whole journey and the process and he’ll be even more important on this away one. If we can create some history and try and win away from home, it’s going to be a very, very sweet four years together.”
Thank you Captain, it will be an exciting 20 months and I can’t wait to many more conversations, dinners and practice rounds together! 👨🏻✈️ https://t.co/jOj9SI11pR
— Edoardo Molinari (@DodoMolinari) January 23, 2024
Molinari was joined by his brother Francesco, Nicolas Colsaerts and Thomas Bjorn in the winning European locker room in Rome.
The universally popular Italian was praised for his granular detail as he implemented a unique statistical strategy, both in the run up and during the match at Marco Simone.
Donald will look to Molinari for a similar edge ahead of the joust in 20 months’ time.
“I’m very happy,” Molinari said. ”It’s something that I’m very proud of and probably means I did a pretty decent job last time, so I cannot wait to help the team and Luke again in Bethpage and I’m really looking forward to it.
“I think Rory 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.
“I cannot wait. I’ve never been part of an away Ryder Cup. I heard it will be very tough, very difficult, you need to have a lot of patience and calmness, but I cannot wait to get started. I cannot wait to be at Bethpage with the whole team, it’s going to be a long two years waiting for that week, but it will be extremely exciting and hopefully we can win again.”
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