Team Europe came out on top at the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, and since then, Edoardo Molinari has spoken about a Keegan Bradley decision that he felt played into Luke Donald’s hands.
Molinari, known as Dodo, was part of the European setup as an assistant captain, working alongside Nicolas Colsaerts and Thomas Bjorn to support Donald during his second stint in charge.
The 43-year-old Italian also brought a calm presence to the European team room throughout the event.
While he has criticised some of the fan behaviour during the Ryder Cup, Molinari pushed back against claims that players were ever close to walking off the course in response.
Molinari had previously called out Bradley for pairing Collin Morikawa and Harris English together twice on Friday and Saturday. Now he’s identified another choice from the US captain that didn’t work out.
Edoardo Molinari describes ‘risky’ decision Keegan Bradley made during Ryder Cup
Molinari has always been someone who trusts the data, and this time he questioned the decision to put Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau together for Saturday’s four-balls.
Speaking on the Fried Egg Podcast, he shared his thoughts: “You’ve put me in a difficult spot now!
“I think it’s far from ideal, especially in four-balls. If you really want to do it, I would probably do it in foursomes.
“To do it in four-balls, it’s a bit of a lottery almost; you could have the worst two players on a team beating the best two players on a team.
“It’s a very risky move and it gave us a very big target to aim for. Tommy [Fleetwood] and Justin [Rose] went out there feeling like they had nothing to lose.”
That match was one of several that didn’t go Team USA’s way on Saturday at Bethpage Black. The Americans didn’t register any wins during that session, managing just one half-point.
Matt Fitzpatrick praises the unique value Edoardo Molinari brings to golf
Fitzpatrick works closely with Molinari and is a big believer in the value of his analytics.
Speaking to the DP World Tour website, Fitzpatrick explained: “Working with Edoardo Molinari – who is obviously a very accomplished Tour player and who has that experience – he knows about the game and he knows what to look for. He understands things.
“What Edoardo was offering in terms of what we can track is just so much better than what I was using before, as well as the additional advantage of me saying, ‘oh, I’d really like to look at this’ and he would be able to just build that into a spreadsheet and we could track that for a period of time or we could track that forever.
“He’s open to making changes. He’s always trying to improve his product and give better advice. He’s worked so hard at it.
“I’m always interested in numbers, whether it’s mine or whether it’s other people’s. I kind of like to know what’s going on and what’s good, and why someone is playing well and why they are not playing well. I just find that interesting and I know Edoardo is the same. He’s someone that I can trust and get on well with and there isn’t any better in my opinion.”
READ MORE: Edoardo Molinari admits surprise at Keegan Bradley’s Ryder Cup pairing decision
Molinari was instrumental in helping Europe win both Ryder Cups under Luke Donald’s captaincy, first in Rome 2023 then again at Bethpage last month.
The Americans might want to consider bringing more data expertise into their setup—but it’s safe to say Molinari won’t be switching sides anytime soon!
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
