Europe vice-captain Edoardo Molinari says the team is “in great shape” ahead of the 2025 Ryder Cup on US soil this September, while he also backed former world No 1 Jon Rahm to rediscover his best form in time for Europe’s defence.

Molinari will again be part of captain Luke Donald’s team at Bethpage Black, having formed part of his support staff during Europe’s 16.5-11.5 success in Rome in 2023.

Europe have themselves been handily beaten in the last two Ryder Cups held in the USA, their last victory being their famous ‘Miracle at Medinah’ win in 2012, but there is optimism again in 2025.

Rory McIlroy won The Masters – along with The Players Championship and AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am – to complete the career Grand Slam, while Sepp Straka, Thomas Detry, Ludvig Åberg and Viktor Hovland have also been victorious on the PGA Tour so far this season.

“I think our team is in great shape,” Molinari said on the Sky Sports Golf Podcast. “There’s a lot of guys that have been playing well recently – even some of the non-superstars we had in Rome.

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“Thomas Detry is one that hadn’t won yet on the PGA Tour, and he managed to clinch his first win at Phoenix. There’s just so many guys that have been playing well and hopefully we can keep that momentum going until September.”

Molinari not concerned over Rahm form

Jon Rahm was certainly one of the superstars on the European team two years ago in Rome, with the two-time major winner unbeaten in securing three points from his four matches.

The Spaniard has only two LIV Golf tournament wins though since his defection to the Saudi-backed league in late 2023, while his best showing at a major since was his tied-seventh finish at The Open last year – his only top 10.

“Not really [concerned],” Molinari said of Rahm’s game. “Jon loves the Ryder Cup so much that he will probably round into form later this summer – I’m pretty sure about that.

“Every year you feel like you have seven or eight guys that are easy to predict, and then you have a couple ones that are way left field. I think it’s going to be the same this time around.

“Hopefully we’ll have all of our top guys in the best form of their life, but one way or the other we’ll have a strong team and one that will be able to put up a fight against a very strong American side.”

Bethpage Black in New York is expected to play host to a raucous home crowd when the Ryder Cup takes place from September 25 to 28, but despite Europe’s struggles on US soil in their most recent visits, Molinari believes they’ll be able to deal with the hostile atmosphere.

“I think you just control what you can control,” he said. “You cannot control the crowds, but you can control how you behave and how you react to the crowds. There’s a lot of things you can do not to make it influence yourself.

“I think we’ll be prepared, we’ll be ready for it. I know it will be loud and very difficult, but sometimes in the difficulty lies opportunity as well. I’m sure some players will love it and hopefully they’ll be able to perform at their best.

“Make birdies, put some blue on the board and the noise level will go down very quickly.

“As I said, it’s going to be tricky, it requires a lot of patience, a lot of determination, grit and hard work but we’ll try our best.”

Molinari tips McIlroy again at Quail Hollow

Molinari also reacted to McIlroy’s famous Masters win at Augusta National last month, ending an 11-year major drought as he also became only the sixth golfer in history to complete the career Grand Slam, tipping him to be “up there again” at the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow – live on Sky Sports Golf from Thursday, May 15.

“It was great with Rory winning [The Masters],” Molinari said. “Anyone that knows Rory a little bit was extremely relieved for him and very happy for him.

“You could see how much it meant to him. It’s been a long time coming and it was just so good to see.

“He’s got a lot of weight off his back now, he can play a bit more freely – especially at majors – and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s up there again at Quail Hollow. He loves it around there.

“It’s a course where he has played well before, one that definitely suits him and anyone that is really good off the tee. I’m very curious to see what’s going to happen next week. I think it’s going to be a fantastic second major of the year.”

Listen to the full Edoardo Molinari interview on the latest edition of the Sky Sports Golf podcast, hosted every week by Jamie Weir. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Spreaker, while vodcast editions can be found on the Sky Sports Golf YouTube channel.

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