Ryder Cup: Won't play favourites says Donald on Migliozzi

(ANSA) - ROME, MAY 3 - Team Europe Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald said on the eve of the Italian Open at the Rome course where the biannual US-Europe contest will be played this autumn that he would "not play favourites" in assessing the chances of Italian no 1 Guido Migliozzi being part of his team.
    "I can't play favourites, but I'll keep an eye on every potential player for the team," said the Englishman at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club, where this year's Ryder Cup will be played from September 29 to October 1.
    One of the Ryder Cup vice captains, Italy's Edoardo Molinari, older brother (by two years) of the 40-year-old 2018 Open champ Francesco who shone at the last Ryder Cup in Europe, said "it's a special week (with the Italian Open), there now isn't a lot to wait for the Ryder Cup. I can't wait to play this week and also for September to arrive".
    Migliozzi, for his part, said his "dream" of taking part in the clash with the US in Rome was "still there, now the decisive events for the Road to Rome start, it will be important to bring home points in the tournaments in Europe." Migliozzi said the recent experience in the Ryder run-up event the Hero Cup had been "important" for both himself and for Donald.
    Francesco 'Chicco' Molinari, despite being several places below Migliozzi in the world rankings, is expected to bag a place on the team after his heroics in France in 2018, the same year as becoming Italy's only major winner with his Open triumph, when he became the first European to win five points from five matches.
    Molinari said recently it was his dream to play in this year's Ryder Cup in Rome after leading Europe to victory over Great Britain and Ireland in the Hero Cup in Abu Dhabi in January.
    "The Ryder Cup in Rome is a dream I want to achieve, my top goal for this year," said Turin-born 'Chicco'.
    "Playing it in Italy, at home, would be fantastic.
    "And my personal opinion is that Tiger Woods, in one way or another, will be involved in the event. "He's a too important figure for the US team, with him they all feel more protected".
    Molinari said Donald, part of the defeated Hero Cup team led by Molinari's old Ryder partner Tommy Fleetwood, had congratulated him on the Abu Dhabi win with Migliozzi also in the Europe team.
    "The experience was important," said Molinari, who added that he was thinking of coming back to live in his native Turin.
    The Hero Cup format was similar to the Ryder Cup and it was a true trial run for the highly anticipated event at Rome in the autumn.
    photo: MIgliozzi (ANSA).