TEEING OFF Personnel
TEEING OFF Personnel issues aside, there is no doubt that Marco Simone will provide a suitably drama-inducing challenge for both sides. Although not quite as challenging as Paris National when it comes to its use of water hazards, there is enough of the wet stuff out there, along with other man-made hazards, to ensure that the players will have to think twice before blindly pulling out the driver on many of the par fours and fives, while the par threes also pose some devilish demands on accuracy, especially if the wind gets up, as it is prone to do in autumn in these parts. Marco Simone was first built in the 1980s under the ownership of fashion designer Laura Biagiotti and her husband Gianni Cigna, when 145 hectares of rolling countryside was transformed into a prestigious golf course on the outskirts of the Eternal City. As with most previous Ryder Cup venues, the course, which has hosted the last two renewals of the Italian Open in order to give European players an early sighter, has undergone a significant remodeling to fit the demands of the world’s foremost team match-play event, with European Golf Design, in cooperation with Tom Fazio II, carrying out a significant redesign which was finally completed in the spring of 2021. The changes focused on creating a course specifically tailored to create match-play drama, with the previous layout rerouted not only to provide numerous risk-and-reward holes, but also to maximise the natural rolling terrain. Spectators will now enjoy unrivalled vantage points of the on-course action, as well as distant views of Rome, including spectacular views of St Peter’s Basilica and of the castle of Marco Simone, which together will provide a memorable backdrop to what will hopefully be equally memorable sporting drama unfolding in the foreground. Either way, the stage is set for one almighty showdown. So pull up a chair, plump up the cushions, uncork the burgundy, and settle down for yet another edition of the greatest golfing show on Earth. THE TEAMS Although we are still some time out from knowing the six automatic qualifiers for each 12-man team, and even further from knowing who the captain’s picks might be, both squads are taking a semblance of shape and it won’t require too much ROMAN EMPIRE From top: captains Johnson and Donald, right, at the Ryder Cup launch at the Colosseum; lush greens and arid rough at Marco Simone imagination to fill in the blanks. Nailed on starters for Europe are Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland, Matt Fitzpatrick and Tyrrell Hatton, while the rookies currently in the frame include Frenchman Victor Perez, Poland’s Adrian Meronk, Germany’s Yannik Paul and Spaniard Adrián Otaegui. Experienced Ryder Cuppers Justin Rose, Shane Lowry and Tommy Fleetwood all need a good summer to get into Donald’s notebook, but will be hard to leave out, while the likes of Denmark’s Rasmus Højgaard and Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre will need a win or two in the next few months to justify inclusion. Sadly, it looks unlikely that Italian fans will have a home-grown player to cheer on unless Matteo Manassero has a spectacular run, while Francesco Molinari is hopelessly out of form. As always, the US team has a solid look to it on paper but one that doesn’t always travel well. The qualification ranking, which is far simpler than the European list, currently features Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark – who not only won his first ever PGA TOUR tournament in 2023, but also held off McIlroy to win the US Open in Los Angeles – Brooks Koepka, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, and Max Homa in the top six, with Keegan Bradley, Jordan Spieth, Collin Morikawa, Cameron Young, Sam Burns, and Ricky Fowler filling the next six berths. That currently leaves out the likes of Tony Finau (18th), Dustin Johnson (34th), Bryson DeChambeau (43th), at least two of whom Zach Johnson would probably like in his team. Johnson says he plans to bring his final 12-man squad over to Marco Simone three weeks before the matches to give them a proper look at the course, and in that respect they should be a team that is better prepared for an away leg than ever before. THE CAPTAINS EUROPE: LUKE DONALD Donald was probably some way down the list of former greats in the frame to captain the European Ryder Cup team, with the likes of Westwood, García and Poulter probably ahead of him. But with those players, along with preferred first choice 2023 captain Stenson, forced to resign their DP World Tour memberships during the LIV standoff, Donald stepped manfully into the breach. As one of the more intelligent and thoughtful players to have graced the pro circuit in recent years, his enquiring mind and willingness to listen to the counsel of others, while holding strong opinions of his own, “ drama-inducing Personnel issues aside, there is no doubt that Marco Simone will provide a suitably challenge for both sides 52 NetJets
JACOB SJOMAN DARREN CARROLL/PGA OF AMERICA/GETTY IMAGES NetJets 53
