Tommy Fleetwood and Francesco Molinari have been named as the team captains for the newly-formed Hero Cup.
The new team match-play contest, hosted by the DP World Tour and taking place at Abu Dhabi Golf Club from January 13th – 15th intends to provide experience to the European players and help boost their chances of regaining the Ryder Cup in 2023 with Europe’s captain, Luke Donald, in attendance. The competition consists of one fourballs session, one foursomes session and a singles slate, with every player participating each day.
Tommy Fleetwood will captain the Great Britain and Ireland team while Francesco Molinari will captain the Continental Europe team. They will each select nine players for their teams before placing a 10th player themselves. The rest of the players taking part in the contest will be announced in early December.
Fleetwood and Molinari have had a successful relationship on the course in previous years. They teamed up in the 2018 Ryder Cup and famously went on to go 4-0 in their games.
‘exciting new concept’
“The Hero Cup is a great idea and will be a very good way for European players to get some more experience of playing in team match play,” Molinari said. “I definitely felt like it benefited me when I played in similar events in the past.”
“Hopefully as captains Tommy and I can bring some of our own experience of team golf to help the other players and we are looking forward to working with Luke on this exciting new concept ahead of a big year for European golf with the Ryder Cup taking place in my home country.”
Fleetwood said: “Fran and I obviously get on very well so I am sure it will feel a little strange at first being opposing captains, but I think the Hero Cup is a fantastic way for players to compete in team match play, which is something both of us have always relished.”
