Francesco Molinari has been announced as the fifth and final vice captain for Team Europe ahead of the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone.
He will join a backroom staff set-up that already features his brother, Edoardo, as well as Thomas Bjørn, Nicolas Colsaerts and José María Olazábal.
Molinari played an instrumental role in Europe’s last Ryder Cup victory in 2018 when he won all five of his matches but will now turn his attention to helping Luke Donald’s side reclaim the trophy in his home country.
“I am very proud to be part of Luke’s team. I started the year hoping to be there as a player, but it is still a great honour to be there as a Vice Captain,” he said.
“I got a phone call from Luke [Donald] asking if I was interested and obviously it was a clear answer from me. He is assembling a really good team of people. A lot of them are close to me in different ways.
“We’ve all shared the stage together already in some form and that helps when it comes to decision time and putting Luke and the players in the best conditions possible to perform at their best.”
Molinari has played on three Ryder Cups having made his debut alongside his brother in 2010. He was part of Europe’s winning effort at Medinah in 2012 as well as in France in 2018. However, a loss of form in the past few years has seen the 40-year-old unable to earn his way onto another team.
Speaking on Molinari’s appointment, captain Donald said: “I chose Francesco because he has a lot of experience in Ryder Cups and he is a Major winner. He has a tremendous individual career, but he is also Italian.
“I wanted him there no matter what, whether it was playing or as a Vice Captain. With his brother there too, I think it is going to be pretty special, having both Edoardo and Francesco on my team representing Team Europe but also representing Italy.”
The next task for Donald will be to name his six captain’s picks which will be announced on September 4th. Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Viktor Hovland are the only three confirmed names thus far.
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