There is just one year to go until the 2023 Ryder Cup takes place at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club, a spectacular course in Rome, Italy. The 12 best players in Europe will square off against the 12 best Americans, and there are several of past Ryder Cup stars in the field at this year’s ACCIONA Open de España presented by Madrid.
Let’s start, of course, with Jon Rahm. The Spaniard is a player who despite only having played in two Ryder Cups, has already proved himself as one of the European side’s leaders. During his Ryder Cup debut in 2018 in Paris, he took down none other than Tiger Woods in the singles, while in 2021 he formed a formidable partnership with fellow Spaniard Sergio Garcia, winning 3.5 points out of a possible 4 with his compatriot in the fourballs and foursomes.
Englishman Tommy Fleetwood, a player who frequents the DP World Tour and is extremely passionate about the Ryder Cup, is particularly remembered for the 4-0 record he and Francesco Molinari produced together in 2018, prompting fans to call them ‘Moliwood’, as they laid the foundations for the European side’s victory that year.
Other past European stars teeing it up at Club de Campo Ville de Madrid this week include Rafa Cabrera-bello and Chris Wood, who both played for Europe in 2016. Stephen Gallacher and Victor Dubuisson who were members of the winning European side in 2014. Thomas Bjorn, a Ryder Cup Veteran who was a member of three winning European Ryder Cup teams and captained Europe to victory in 2018. Bjorn is also one of Luke Donald’s vice captains in Rome next year alongside Edoardo Molinari who is also teeing it up in Madrid this week. Molinari was a member of the winning European side in 2010, his only Ryder Cup appearance.
In light of the European team’s changing of the guard in recent years, it is difficult to say who has already earned themselves a place in Italy next year, but there are sure to be one or two in the field at the 2022 ACCIONA Open de España presented by Madrid. The 2023 European captain, although he is not playing this year, was in the field for the 2021 Acciona Open de España presented by Madrid and he will certainly be keeping a close eye on proceedings as he knows it is not an easy course to win on, and whoever does so will have gone some way to potentially earning themselves a ticket to Rome.
