Ryder Cup in Rome and a place in the top hundred players in the world. Beginning of the year resolutions for Francesco Molinari who, in an interview with the newspaper “Il Messaggero”, also reveals which shot he would like to play again in his now over ten-year career on fields all over the world.
Francesco Molinari, statements
Already at work in his home in Los Angeles, Francesco Molinari explains that he has planned the 2023 season to hit the Ryder Cup goal in September. To be at the “Marco Simone” in Guidonia, the blue will play more often on the DP World Tour, in Europe, than in previous years.
“Those races guarantee more points in the Ryder Cup key than the simultaneous ones on the PGA Tour. Then I will return to the USA for Waste Management and the Genesis Invitational at the Riviera, my field” For the same reason, his presence at the 2023 Italian Open, also scheduled in Guidonia in May, is still in doubt.
In that period the calendar of the US circuit “foresees the Wells Fargo Championship which gives more points in terms of qualification. It will depend on how I am in the standings and I will speak to Captain Donald about it.
It’s a decision that needs to be carefully considered.” Joining the Team Europe players would mean rising in parallel in the world rankings where today Francesco occupies position number 162. And to think that after that fantastic 2018 (where he won everything) the blue was even number five in the world.
The first “European” appointment for Chicco will be in Abu Dhabi where an unprecedented Hero Cup will be played next week, i.e. a challenge between twenty European players: ten from the continent (with the Italian captain and player) and ten from Great Britain and Ireland (led by Tommy Fleetwood).
“Being chosen – he says – made me happy, I’m curious to see how I’ll do. Luke Donald and my brother Edoardo (Ryder Cup vice-captain) will also be with me, so I’m calmer. Favorites? On paper it’s them, they have more stars from Shane Lowry to Tyrrel Hatton, to name two.
But we have a more motivated team. They will do well not to underestimate us.” Reaffirming his intention to return to the top as soon as possible thanks also to the work with Sandro Donati and with professor Giuseppe Vercelli (“to regain his conviction”), Francesco Molinari confides in Stefano Cazzetta and plays – in his own way – a mulligan, explaining which shot would like to shoot again and differently from what was done.
“The second at par 5 on the 15th hole in Augusta” replies the Turinese decisively. Chicco lost that Masters in the final holes, after having been the leader for a long time. In the end he won Tiger Woods, pushed by the entire US golf world.
“We would have said the par 3 shot of the 12, with the ball ending up in the water” objects the colleague from the Messenger. “No, second to 15. With a shot differently, the ball wouldn’t have gone too far to the left.
At that point I could have fully gotten back into the game and written a different ending to the 2019 Masters”. We hope that Francesco Mondiali will write other different endings as soon as possible.
