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Rory McIlroy has outlined Team Europe’s secret weapon ahead of this month’s Ryder Cup clash against the United States. McIlroy was one of 12 European players on the end of a record-breaking defeat at the hands of Team USA at Whistling Straits in 2021.
Two years on, the Northern Irishman and his teammates – under the guidance of captain Luke Donald – will be out for revenge on home soil at Marco Simone in Italy. The hosts have formed a new-look team from the lineup that lost so heavily two years ago, with four rookies joining the likes of McIlroy, Jon Rahm, and Viktor Hovland.
As well as the talent on the course, star man McIlroy has revealed that his team has some newfound firepower away from the action too courtesy of vice-captain Edoardo Molinari. The Italian has become renowned in the world of golf for his deep-diving statistical work, and Molinari has brought this to the Team Europe set-up in a bid to win the Ryder Cup back.
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“He’s [Molinari] delved really deep into the stats in terms of pairings for fourballs, for foursomes, course setup, what our team does well and what their team does well; how can we set ourselves up for success in whatever way possible,” claimed McIlroy.
“He has also formed a very close relationship with some of the players over the last few years because he does some of the stats for certain players. So, I think the players trust him. Sometimes you have to take numbers with a grain of salt, and they don’t tell a whole story or the whole picture.”
As well as his number-crunching, Molinari is a man with Ryder Cup-winning experience having been part of Europe’s 2010 win at Celtic Manor, something McIlroy also believes is key to his input this time around.
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“I think Edoardo comes in there not just as a statistician but as someone that’s played the Ryder Cup and still plays the game at a competitive level,” McIlroy added. “I think all of those things combined, there’s a big level of trust that he obviously knows what he is talking about, and what he’s giving us is good information.”
Edoardo will work alongside his brother Francesco in Rome, who is also acting as one of Donald’s vice-captains. The Italian has also enjoyed plenty of success on the Ryder Cup stage, forming the infamous ‘Moliwood’ partnership with Tommy Fleetwood during Europe’s win in Paris five years ago.
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