Edoardo Molinari is a stats guru to the stars,including Europe’s Ryder Cup team.
By John Steinbreder
When the Europeans destroyed the Americans on the first day of the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone outside Rome, the twosomes that captain Luke Donald sent out received well-deserved praise. So did he. His charges won all four of the morning foursomes, then went undefeated in the afternoon. That marked the first time in Ryder Cup history that the U.S. team had not won a single match in a day, and it gave the Europeans a 6½-1½ lead.
Those in the know credited yet another member of the European team, Edoardo Molinari, even though he never so much as picked up a club. Rather, it was the analytics “Dodo” provided Donald that made the difference.
A native of Turin, Italy, and one of five vice captains, Molinari had helped determine which of the Euros might be better suited to play those matches as well as who should be paired together and who should tee off on the odd- and even-numbered holes in the foursomes.
In addition, Molinari had learned through a deep dive of past Ryder Cups that winning the first hole was critical and being up after three holes was just as important. That led Donald to have this team prepare by playing one- and three-hole matches in practice.
Those opening triumphs were only the beginning of a beatdown that saw the Europeans wrest back the trophy they had lost to the Americans at Whistling Straits two years prior.
And the strategies that Donald employed that first day were only some of the fruits of his collaboration with Molinari, a longtime touring professional and past Ryder Cup player who earned a degree in engineering from the Polytechnic University of Turin and is regarded as the game’s consummate number-cruncher.
Click to read this story