‘I’d love to do it’ – Molinari eyes European captaincy after next Ryder Cup role

Francesco Molinari admits it was an easy decision to be part of Luke Donald’s backroom team again at the 2027 Ryder Cup and insists he would love to captain Team Europe in the future.

Molinari was announced as Donald’s second vice-captain for the centenary edition next September, live on Sky Sports, where Team Europe will be targeting a historic third consecutive win over the United States.

The former Open champion will be joined in Donald’s backroom team at Adare Manor by older brother Edoardo Molinari, having both been vice-captains for the 2023 win at Marco Simone and the 2025 victory at Bethpage Black.

“Very easy [decision to make] – it was a pretty short phone call, as you can imagine,” Molinari told the Sky Sports Golf podcast. “I’m honoured and excited to be part of it once again.

“I’ve experienced Luke as a captain in the last four years during the process and he’s amazing at what he does. Eduardo is not too bad at what he does either, so I’m very happy to join

“Luke is a great captain, he tries to involve everyone and listen to everyone before making his own decision, so we all try to bring something a little bit different to make sure we don’t miss any details. We cover every possible one per cent that can help the guys perform out there on the course.”

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Donald was labelled as Europe’s greatest-ever captain after masterminding their away win in New York last September, where they took a record-breaking advantage into the singles before closing out a 15-13 victory, with Molinari impressed by the Englishman’s leadership.

“I think we always got along nicely, but he was never the most expansive team-mate,” Molinari added. “One of the things that impressed me is how he evolved in that [leadership] sense and how much better he is now at communicating with us, with the players, with the media.

“He has really evolved a lot in that sense – the dedication he brought to the job is the same he had as a player and it’s the same that brought him to being world No 1. There are many aspects to admire and he’s just a great leader to follow.

“I can see some people would have had some question marks about his personality as a leader, but he’s stepped up since he took on the role for Rome and I think he loves it.

“All the players love the way he approaches the job and that’s a great combination – that’s why he’s doing it for the third time in a row. We’re all happy for him to be leading us once again.”

Donald can become the first captain to win three consecutive Ryder Cups, having initially been reluctant to serve a third term in the role, while the former world No 1 has previously shown strong reservations about going beyond the 2027 edition.

Molinari would be a strong contender to succeed Donald as the next European captain, potentially for the away contest at Hazeltine National in 2029, which is a role the Italian would relish if selected.

“Yeah, obviously, if you get asked, it’s not something you turn down – that would never enter my mind,” Molinari said. “I know there’s a lot of strong, valid candidates and a lot of moving parts. We don’t know exactly what the situation is going to be in two or three years.

“I mean I’d love to do it. I think it’s out of my hands, but I’m here. They know where I am if they need someone and I’d be very happy to do it.”

Listen to the full Francesco Molinari interview in the latest edition of the Sky Sports Golf podcast, hosted by Jamie Weir, which also includes interviews with former major champion Ian Baker-Finch and players to progress from Final Qualifying for The Open. Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract.

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