European Ryder Cup Hopefuls Get a Taste of the Format at the Hero Cup

The renewal of the old Seve Trophy saw Continental Europe defeat Great Britain & Ireland, and gave winning captain Francesco Molinari some motivation.

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A new Ryder Cup-style event took place in Abu Dhabi over the weekend, with the Continental Europe side defeating Great Britain & Ireland 14.5 to 10.5.

The tournament was a renewal of the old Seve Trophy, which was played eight times between 2000 and 2013 and had been clearly viewed as a tuneup for the Ryder Cup.

The event featured 10 players on each side, all of whom played in every match on Friday and Saturday as well as Sunday singles. The Continental Europe side was captained by Francesco Molinari, the GB&I side by Tommy Fleetwood.

The event featured only five four-ball matches but 10 foursomes matches on Saturday in an attempt to get the players used to the format. While key members of the European Ryder Cup team such as Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland and Matt Fitzpatrick did not participate, the event certainly had value—even if it’s likely that only a handful of the 20 players who competed will have a shot at this year's Ryder Cup.

Francesco Molinari, winning captain at this weekend's Hero Cup, was a hero for Europe in the 2018 Ryder Cup :: Erik Williams/USA TODAY Sports

Still, it was a good opportunity for Shane Lowry, Tyrrell Hatton, Seamus Power, Fleetwood and Molinari to compete under the format and show captain Luke Donald—who presided over the three-day event—some feedback.

Molinari is especially interesting at this point. He didn’t lose a match in the competition and was the European star in 2018 when he went 5-0 before his form fell off late in 2019. At one point, Molinari had reached No. 5 in the world; he is now 164th.

He’s miles away from qualifying for the team now, but Molinari undoubtedly wants to be a part of the competition in his home country. His brother, Edoardo, has already been named a vice captain.

"Invaluable," Molinari said of the experience. "Especially for the younger guys, but even for us, to play match play, just get the juices going this early in the year, it’s a great event. We really enjoy it. The DP World Tour has done a great job setting it up. Obviously, the crowds have enjoyed it as well.

"Obviously it’s great motivation for me. I need to be careful. It's a long way away and there's a lot of golf to be played in between and lots of goals, intermediate goals to get there. So just focus on my game. It's definitely much better than it’s been. So hopefully I can play some good golf and be in Rome.

"Being in Rome would be absolutely incredible."