Ryder Cup team bonding starts in Rome as Rory McIlroy and others attend dinner with captains
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Published 15/09/2022 at 09:32 GMT
Rory McIlroy is almost certainly to be Team Europe's on-course leader at next year's Ryder Cup. The world No. 2 will get a first look at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club at this week's Italian Open, and he has revealed the bonding process among those expected to be in the mix for captain Luke Donald's team is underway with a dinner scheduled in Rome this week.
Molinari and Donald walk the Marco Simone course
Rory McIlroy has revealed that Ryder Cup team bonding is already underway, with a dinner featuring many of Europe's likely selections set for this week in Rome.
Qualification for next year’s match only began last week but plans already appear advanced as Team Europe look to boost camaraderie and bounce back from the record 19-9 mauling they suffered at the hands of the United States at Whistling Straits in 2021.
McIlroy is one of a number of notable names teeing it up at the Italian Open this week at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club - the host course for next year’s Ryder Cup.
Fresh from a stellar year on the PGA Tour and a runner up finish at the DP World Tour’s BMW PGA Championship, the Northern Irishman is set to be a central figure once again and has an open dialogue with captain Luke Donald.
“I've had discussions with Luke and actually a few of us are meeting for dinner tonight for a little bit of team bonding and also to have a talk about the course and how we think it should be set up to favour the European team,” McIlroy said.
McIlroy was not forthcoming with details as to his dining companions but he is likely to be joined by vice captains Edoardo Molinari and Thomas Bjorn and possibly Matt Fitzpatrick, Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton and Francesco Molinari who are also on show this week.
Discussions are likely to include how the European line-up could be refreshed following the recent LIV Golf defections of previous stalwarts such as Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia.
Rising stars such as Danish brothers Rasmus and Nicolai Hojgaard and recent Tour winner Adrian Meronk are among those to have garnered attention, and McIlroy is keen for an injection of new faces.
“If I have said it once I've said it a hundred times, I don't think any of those [LIV Golf] guys should be on the Ryder Cup team,” McIlroy said.
“I think it is the right time to start to look towards the future of the European team. We've done obviously incredibly well with the core group of guys we've had over the last two decades but all good things come to an end at some point and I think it is time to sort of start that process and blood some of the newer guys, but it's up to those guys to put their hand up for selection.“
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Donald will eventually assemble a 12-man team featuring three players from the European Points List, three from the World Points List and a further six captain’s picks in a change from the previous qualification criteria.
The result is likely to be a team offering a real sense of a new direction.
“I think Whistling Straits is a good sort of demarcation,” McIlroy said. “That's all behind us. We have got a core group of guys but let's build on that again, and instead of filling those three or four spots with older veterans, let's blood some rookies and let's get them in and build towards the future. I think that's important.”
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