Luke Donald names Europe's fifth and final Ryder Cup vice captain
European Ryder Cup skipper Luke Donald has named Italy's first major champion Francesco Molinari as his fifth and final vice captain.
Francesco Molinari admitted he began the year harbouring hopes he would make the Ryder Cup as a player after Luke Donald named the Italian as his fifth and final vice captain.
Molinari made his debut in the dust-up in 2010 and has never been on a losing side.
His biggest triumph undoubtedly came in 2018 when - weeks after becoming Italy's first major champion - he became the first European to win a maximum five points from five matches as Thomas Bjorn's side reclaimed the Ryder Cup at Le Golf National.
Francesco formed an iconic partnership with England's Tommy Fleetwood.
Unfortunately for Molinari his form began to dip shortly after he contended at the 2019 Masters that was won by Tiger Woods.
Earlier this year Molinari hit out at some of his critics by writing on social media:
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European Ryder Cup skipper Luke Donald has chosen Francesco Molinari as his final vice captain. pic.twitter.com/4lHVqqXCuU
— GolfMagic (@GolfMagic) August 16, 2023
Still, Molinari will be re-united with Fleetwood in a month's time as he has been named Donald's fifth and final vice captain.
Francesco will join his older brother Edoardo, Thomas Bjorn, Jose Maria Olazabal and Nicolas Colsaerts in helping out Donald.
Incidentally, this will be the first-ever all-continental line-up of assistant captains.
Donald told reporters it was an easy decision to appoint Francesco, adding:
Molinari admitted he started the year with hopes of attending the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club as a player.
"But it is still a great honour to be there as a vice-captain," he said.
He added:
Automatic qualification for Donald's 12-man European side will conclude on 3 September.
Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland have confirmed their places.
Scottie Scheffler and Wyndham Clark have also qualified for Zach Johnson's U.S. side.
Donald will announce his six captains picks on 4 September.
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