"I don't like the course”: Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka’s instructor bashes 'horrendous' Ryder Cup venue

Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka will be seen going up against each other at the 2023 Ryder Cup. While they seem excited, their golf coach Peter Cowen has come out to criticize the venue of the upcoming event, the Marco Simone Golf Club, in Rome.

While speaking to the media, Cowen said that the course for the 44th edition of the biennial event is "horrendous." He added that the caddies would find the Rome golf course "very demanding" and predicted that the third day would be really bad for caddies. As quoted by Golf Magic, he said:

"I don't like the course. I think the course is horrendous. It's too hilly, too many blind shots, it's not my favourite course. The caddies will find it very, very demanding. If you're caddying for four rounds in two days, I think on the third day, you'll be in a bad way."

Peter Cowen thinks that players too would find it tough paying at the Marco Simone Golf Club. He added that if they play four to five matches and then proceed to a singles match, the result would be the same as Jon Rahm's in the 2021 edition of the Ryder Cup.

"It's very hard work, it really is. For the players as well if they're playing four or five matches. That's what happened to Rahm at Whistling Straits. He'd played all four matches, then he played in the singles and he was knackered," Cowen added.

Exploring the Ryder Cup teammates of both Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka

The United States team for the upcoming biennial event was announced last month on August 29 at the PGA of America headquarters in Frisco, Texas.

Scottie Scheffler, Brian Harman, and four others automatically secured a spot in the US Ryder Cup team. While Brooks Koepka was the only golfer among both the teams from LIV Golf, he was selected by Zach Johnson as one of the captain's picks.

Following is the 12-member squad of the United States team:

Scottie Scheffler (Automatic Qualification)
Brian Harman (Automatic Qualification)
Wyndham Clark (Automatic Qualification)
Patrick Cantlay (Automatic Qualification)
Max Homa (Automatic Qualification)
Xander Schauffele (Automatic Qualification)
Sam Burns (Captain's Pick)
Rickie Fowler (Captain's Pick)
Brooks Koepka (Captain's Pick)
Collin Morikawa (Captain's Pick)
Jordan Spieth (Captain's Pick)
Justin Thomas (Captain's Pick)

The European team announced their 12-member squad on September 4. Luke Donald made some surprise picks that garnered enough criticism on social media.

Although Robert MacIntyre was left out of the team, Ludvig Aberg and Nicolai Hojgaard were some top youngsters to get a spot for the upcoming Ryder Cup in Rome.

The following are the players in the European team:

Rory McIlroy (European Point List)
Jon Rahm (European Point List)
Robert MacIntyre (European Point List)
Viktor Hovland (World Point List)
Tyrrell Hatton (World Point List)
Matt Fitzpatrick (World Point List)
Tommy Fleetwood (Captain's pick)
Sepp Straka (Captain's pick)
Justin Rose (Captain's pick)
Shane Lowry (Captain's pick)
Nicolai Hojgaard (Captain's pick)
Ludvig Aberg (Captain's pick

The 2023 Ryder Cup is scheduled to be held two weeks later at Marco Simone Golf Club, Rome, from September 29 to October 1. For the United States, Brooks Koepka would be the most successful player, while for Europe, this will be the Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy.