‘Moliwood’ set to do battle against each other as Hero Cup captains

The DP World Tour has unveiled Ryder Cup heroes Tommy Fleetwood and Francesco Molinari as captains for the respective Great Britain and Ireland and Continental Europe teams in next year’s Hero Cup.

2018 Ryder Cup teammates Tommy Fleetwood and Francesco Molinari will be leading opposing teams at next year’s Hero Cup

The new team match play contest will take place at Abu Dhabi Golf Club from January 13-15, with Fleetwood and Molinari each selecting nine players for their teams before they, themselves, make up the ten-man line-ups.

The teams will be confirmed early next month with Fleetwood and Molinari working alongside Luke Donald, who will preside over the event in his capacity as 2023 European Ryder Cup Captain.

Selection will take into account performances on the DP World Tour rankings with the contest itself consisting of one session of foursomes, one session of fourballs and one session of singles matches, with all 20 players taking part in each session. Members of the winning team will each earn US$125,000, with those on the losing team each receiving $75,000.Molinari and
Fleetwood famously forged a formidable partnership for Europe in the 2018 Ryder Cup in Paris, winning all four of their matches together to earn the nickname ‘Moliwood’.
Molinari said: “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. 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.  Abu Dhabi has been pretty good to me over the years so hopefully that will continue in January and I look forward to working closely with Fran and Luke, as well as all the players.”