Francesco Molinari outlines Europe’s plans to tame Ryder Cup crowd
By Josh Lees
Francesco Molinari will once again be involved in the European Ryder Cup setup as a vice-captain, and the team have already been putting in the work to prepare for the US crowd at Bethpage Black.
Much has been said about the backing that will be behind Keegan Bradley’s American team in New York.
The Europeans have been warned on numerous occasions over what reception they could receive when the action gets underway later this month.
An away Ryder Cup is one of the toughest tasks in golf, and things are expected to be much harder for the visitors this time around.
Amid all the noise in the build-up, the European team have been putting in the work behind closed doors to ensure they are able to deal with anything thrown their way.
Eleven of the 12 European players are in action at the BMW PGA Championship this week, as is captain Luke Donald and his assistant Molinari.
Speaking to bunkered.co.uk at Wentworth about the prospect of the New York crowd later, the Italian vice-captain told bunkered.co.uk: “We are very aware.
“It has been one of the main points of the preparation.” During this prep, Molinari revealed Donald and Co have reached out to experts from other sports on how best to deal with hostile fandom.
“[We’ve been] talking to people outside of golf to see how they manage the crowd in other sports,” the former Open champion added.
“But it is an experienced team, we all know what is waiting for us and we need to show up and perform.”
Molinari is no stranger to succeeding in an away Ryder Cup, having played his part in Europe’s ‘Miracle at Medinah’ 13 years ago.
It is the only Ryder Cup that has gone the way of the away team in the last nine editions of the event, and Molinari is not the only member of the current cohort who played his part in the historic victory.
Skipper Donald starred in Illinois as a player, while Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose also featured alongside the Englishman and Molinari.
They were led by Jose Maria Olazabal in 2012, another one of Donald’s returning assistants this time around.
Molinari believes this experience within the locker room will prove key in their bid to recreate history at Bethpage.
“Luke was there, Justin was there, Rory was there,” he commented. A core group from Medinah, we have Olazabal as well who will bring his experience…
“For sure that experience helps. It also good to have guys that have played in the US even without being successful, we will know what to expect.”
Despite not having home advantage the Europeans have plenty in their arsenal in their bid to defend the crown they won so convincingly at Marco Simone.
One key component of the team is Molinari’s brother Edoardo, who has prevailed as Donald’s secret weapon in recent years.
Edoardo has balance the latter stages of his career with working intently in golf statistics and data, and the Europeans have used this to their advantage.
There have been many special moments between the Molinaris throughout their careers, and working together in the Euro camp as part of Donald’s team has been another.
“It is a pleasure and honour to do [the job] with the team, especially with my brother,” Francesco explained. “It is definitely special. We were lucky to play our first one together, who could have said when we were kids that we would be here right now.”
Despite their brotherly bond, the Italians seemingly have different roles in the team. I think we are quite complimentary. I am not good with numbers,” he joked. “I try to bring something different.”