Ryder Cup: A tempting 16th hole, penal rough and slow greens – Marco Simone examined | Golf News

The Ryder Cup heads to Italy for the first time with Team Europe hosting Team USA at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome, live on Sky Sports from Friday through to Sunday.

So, what challenges will the course pose, what are the key holes and just how penal is the rough?

A new set-up for a familiar course

One player who already knows what it takes to succeed around Marco Simone Golf and Country Club is Team Europe rookie Robert MacIntyre.

It was the venue for his most recent DP World Tour success when he beat Europe team-mate Matt Fitzpatrick in a play-off to claim the DS Automobiles Italian Open title in 2022.

Now, just over 12 months on from that triumph, the 27-year-old is back aiming to help the Europeans regain the Ryder Cup and, while he does not see the set-up as that much different, he has noticed some subtle differences.

“There’s a couple more drivable holes than what there was before, but still very similar,” MacIntyre said.

“You’ve got to hit it in the short stuff. The rough’s brutal, but it’s no different.

“Good golf scores will win matches, and if you keep it reasonably straight off the tee, then you’ve got a great chance.”

For his part, Fitzpatrick believes the rough is particularly punishing this time around, yet he is in no doubt it will play even better than when it has hosted the Italian Open.

“The rough is a little bit higher, but green speeds are the same and pretty similar overall,” Fitzpatrick said. “I think it’s in fantastic condition, it really is, and I’d argue better than the Italian Open, so I think that’s exciting.

“People say, ‘oh, it’s a good match-play course’ – normally when people say that, it doesn’t do it justice, but I actually think it’s a good golf course, too.”

The first hole

This par-four measures 445 yards and plays uphill throughout with a narrow fairway leading up to a tiered green. A dog-leg left will force players to shape their opening tee shots right to left.

Not only will the hole be a technical challenge but a mental one, too, with players sure to feel the Ryder Cup jitters before they play their first strokes in front of a huge and vocal crowd.

Team Europe’s Sepp Straka, one of eight Ryder Cup rookies across the two squads this year, admitted in his pre-tournament press conference that he has asked more senior team-mates: ‘What do you do on the first tee box when you can’t feel your arms?’

The rough

Players have been continually quizzed on how punitive the rough will be in Rome, with Tommy Fleetwood saying aggression could be punished.

“It’s thick for sure, pretty penal. There’s a lot of dog-legs on the golf course. It’s easy to try and be very aggressive but I don’t think you’re going to get away with it every shot,” said Fleetwood, ahead of his third Ryder Cup.

“The course is not going to give you many favours, it’s a demanding tee-to-green course. I just think you have to manage your way around a lot.

“The crowd’s close, so there’s always going to be the sort of chance of [the rough] being trampled down. It’s a bit more graded but at the same time very, very penal. I think wide shots or shots that are a little bit errant are going to be punished in a potentially pretty harsh way.”

The 16th and 18th holes

The 16th hole could prove a real dilemma for players with the par four only stretching 352 yards.

The green is makeable off the tee, if you are willing to take on a water hazard, three bunkers and an angled putting surface.

The alternative is to lay up onto a bulky fairway, but it could be hard for some players to resist going for the dancefloor in one.

Rounds will conclude – and perhaps the tournament even decided – on a 626-yard par five in Rome. The green is surrounded by bunkers on the right and a pond on the left meaning there are plenty of risks involved.

How much will home advantage count?

The Americans will need no reminding they have not won the Ryder Cup in Europe since 1993, although Rory McIlroy does not see there being much difference between the styles of play of the two teams now.

But while the top players on both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour regularly cross the Atlantic one way or the other to compete, the Northern Irishman sees tapping into how they grew up playing golf on different types of course as being key.

“We maybe grew up a little differently, and I think with some of the things that maybe the Europeans tried to do when we do have that home course – I’m not going to call it home-course advantage – but you can maybe tap into a little more of like how we grew up playing the game rather than how we play the game right now,” McIlroy said.

“I think, whether it be in Europe for us or in the US for the American team, there has to be an advantage to that.

“You can do stuff here and grow the rough up and try to pinch the fairways in at 320 so you’re hitting more mid and long irons into greens and stuff like that – and that’s all just looking at statistics and sort of seeing as a whole what the team does better than the other team.

“That’s why I’ve said this in the last number of years: winning an away Ryder Cup is probably one of the biggest achievements in golf right now.”

The American perspective

Team USA captain Zach Johnson does not see an advantage either way, no matter how opposite number Donald and his team opt to set up the course.

“I think it presents a challenge to both teams,” Johnson said. “I think the beauty of Marco Simone is that it already has a canvas that is really, really good, and so whatever Luke and his team decide to do to it probably only enhances that.

“The rough is penal; it’s very difficult, but we’ve experienced that before. It’s going to present a challenge and you’ll need your entire arsenal working.”

Patrick Cantlay, one of four debutants in Johnson’s team, is excited by the challenge he and his team-mates face in Rome.

“It’s definitely the best course I’ve ever played in Italy, hands down,” Cantlay joked, before admitting it is the only course he has experienced in Italy.

“We’ve just got to get comfortable, learn the golf course and we should be good to go.”

When is the Ryder Cup live on Sky Sports?

Friday September 29

• Live coverage of Day 1 Foursomes starts at 6am
• Live coverage of Day 1 Fourballs starts at 12pm

Saturday September 30

• Live coverage of Day 2 Foursomes starts at 6am
• Live coverage of Day 2 Fourballs starts at 12pm

Sunday October 1

• Live coverage of Day 3 Singles starts at 9am

Viewers will be able to watch one ‘star’ match during Friday’s and Saturday’s foursomes by signing in on skysports.com and the Sky Sports App.

What is the format?

Foursomes sees two golfers from Europe compete against a pair from the USA, with team members alternating between shots and each team using one ball.

Fourballs also sees two golfers from each team compete, but each player uses his own ball. The lowest score from each pair will count for the score for their side.

Twelve singles matches will then be contested on the final day, with every member from the USA team playing against a European opponent in a one-on-one contest.

Live coverage from the opening day of the Ryder Cup begins on Friday from 6am on Sky Sports Golf. There’s also live content each day in the build-up to the tournament. Stream with NOW.