Francesco Molinari leads Continental Europe to Hero Cup win over Tommy Fleetwood's GB&I side
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Published 15/01/2023 at 13:27 GMT
The Hero Cup has been revived as a prep run for the Ryder Cup in Italy later in the year, and a Continental Europe team led by Francesco Molinari triumphed over a GB & Ireland team captained by Tommy Fleetwood at Abu Dhabi Golf Club. Molinari enjoyed the experience and is hopeful it can act as a springboard to success at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club.
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Francesco Molinari led from the front as Continental Europe beat GB&I 14.5-10.5 to win the Hero Cup.
With the event a staging ground for Team Europe captain Luke Donald to get a look at Ryder Cup possibles in competitive match play action, it was Molinari and his men who emerged victorious against a team led by Tommy Fleetwood.
Europe led throughout the three days and despite GB&I threatening a comeback in the Singles on Sunday, Molinari’s men came home strong to claim the win.
“It is amazing, amazing,” Molinari said. “I can now get to relax. The last couple of hours have been tense after finishing my game.
“It has been great all week and I am super happy for the guys.”
While still having designs on playing, Molinari is viewed as a future Ryder Cup captain and he enjoyed the experience of leading the team at the Hero Cup.
“It has been very easy leading them and being a captain for them,” Molinari said. “I think we found some very good pairings and just had a great week to start the year.
“Many pairings seemed to gel, which was great. It made my job a lot easier, I did not have to tinker and change too much, and spending time with some of the guys, younger guys, who maybe I did not know, has been great fun.”
On the value of the event in terms of a Ryder Cup, Molinari said: “It is invaluable, especially for the younger guys. To play match play, get the juices going this early in the year is great.”
Molinari is not guaranteed a place on the Ryder Cup team, but is desperate to play in his native Italy.
The ideal scenario for him would be to play his way onto the team, and if he shows the sort of form that enabled him to take down Shane Lowry 3&2 in the top match, that could happen.
“It is a great motivation for me,” Molinari said of playing in Rome. “I think I need to be careful, it is a long way away and a lot of golf still to be played.
"I have intermediate goals to get there, so focus on my game. It has been much better than it has been, so hopefully I can play some good golf and being in Rome would be incredible.”
Fleetwood seems certain to be a key figure for Donald in Rome later in the year.
The Englishman returned to form with a victory in South Africa towards the end of last year, and he proved too good for Thomas Pieters with a 3&2 victory.
When Matt Wallace got ahead early on his match with Thomas Detry, and with Tyrrell Hatton crushing Antoine Rozner 5&4, there was hope of a GB&I comeback at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club.
It was not to be, as some strong play in the middle matches helped Europe over the line.
Nicolai Hojgaard is one of the brightest talents in European golf, and the 21-year-old Dane ground out a one-up win over the in-form Irishman Seamus Power.
It was left to Adrian Meronk to secure the victory, as the Pole closed out a one-up win over Callum Shinkwin - sealing the win with a superb putt.
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