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One of the secrets to Europe’s Ryder Cup success in Rome last year was the nerdiness of vice captain Edoardo Molinari.
The former U.S. Amateur champion who qualified for the 2010 Ryder Cup team with his younger brother, Francesco, is an avowed statistical wonk with an engineering degree from Polytechnic University of Turin in Italy.
In 2020, Molinari founded StatisticGolf, a leading game-analytics service for tour players that, according to Golf Digest, is used by 35 top players who have accumulated dozens of wins worldwide including the likes of Matt Fitzpatrick, Viktor Hovland and Nelly Korda.
Earlier this year, Molinari signed on as the chief data strategist and investor in Arccos, a GPS-sensor-based stat tracking app that’s helped revolutionize statistical use for regular golfers with a database of nearly 900 million shots.
“The sophistication of what Edoardo has built surpasses anything that I’ve seen in the field of golf analytics,” said Sal Syed, Arccos founder and CEO. “By pairing Edoardo’s approach with what we’ve built at Arccos, we’ll redefine analytics to perfectly address the needs of pro golfers, as well as elite amateurs, junior golfers and recreational players.”
Said Molinari, a three-time DP World Tour winner: “I’m very impressed with the Arccos game tracking system as it is delivering tremendous benefits to so many players around the world. It’s the perfect complement to the platform I’ve built for the game’s most elite pros. Joining forces with Sal Syed and his team of amazing data scientists, analysts, engineers and designers will make an immediate impact. I know we’re poised to pioneer groundbreaking advancements in analytics, helping every golfer become smarter about practice, preparation, and on-course decision-making.”
Molinari said he uses the Arccos system, with sensors in the butt end of each grip, to track every shot he hits. “So basically, any time I play or practice, I use it,” he told GolfWRX.com recently. “I collect data about my game, and then that helps me a lot, focusing on the areas that I need to focus on when I’m practicing, and at the same time preparing better for the next few events.”
That analysis has led Molinari to be one of the quick converters to Titleist’s new GT3 driver (8 degrees), which his data show provides him with more consistent spin rates and about 5-6 more yards of distance compared with his previous Titleist TSi3 driver. His analytics also led him to switch earlier this year to three new Titleist SM10 Vokey wedges (52, 56 and 60 degrees) to go with his Titleist 620 CB pitching wedge.
“Looking at the numbers, I realized that I could gain a lot more with the wedges … if I didn’t have a 3-iron,” Molinari told GolfWRX.com. “So I basically have a bit of a bigger gap between my 4-iron and the hybrid. But the thing is, once you’re that far away from the green, all you’re trying to do is just trying to hit the green. So I don’t need a perfect number there, but I’m happier to have some more options around the greens.”
As for his L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 Max broomstick putter that he started using at the 2023 Barracuda Championship, that came based on simple advice from Adam Scott: “Adam obviously has been using an L.A.B. putter for quite some time, and he said, ‘You know, if you’re [struggling] with your putting, just try it, and I think it could help you.’ So I came [to Barracuda]; expectations were very low. I tried the putter. It felt very good immediately. I put it in the bag … and then it’s been in the bag ever since. I feel like it’s much more stable and much more reliable than any other putter I’ve ever used.”
Scott Michaux