“It’s a massive privilege” – Tommy Fleetwood on leading the GB&I team at Hero Cup
Tommy Fleetwood will be the captain of Team Great Britain and Ireland for the first edition of the Hero Cup, while Francesco Molinari will be captaining the European side. The new tournament is a successor to the now discontinued Seve Trophy event, which had eight seasons between 2000 and 2013.
Fleetwood feels it's a massive privilege to play in a team environment and has always enjoyed playing team golf.
"We've always loved playing in that team environment. Having the opportunity to do that again is a massive privilege and we're all really excited and [it's] a different role for me. So getting the chance to experience something like being a captain is very, very cool for me and something that I'll hold in high regard, you know, whatever happens in my career, so just looking forward to getting the week going."
What it means to be Team GB&I Captain 🙏
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Fleetwood is not taking the Hero Cup lightly and feels it could be a platform to showcase himself for the Ryder Cup.
"It is very serious, if you apply yourself properly in this event, I think it holds you in high regard for the Ryder Cup. I remember we had the EurAsia Cup in 2018 and I had a particularly good tournament there and Europe won, but I remember Thomas was the captain and everything you do, they keep a very close eye on for the captains in September."
Ryder Cup skippers Colin Montgomerie, Jose Maria Olazabal, Nick Faldo, Paul McGinley, and Thomas Bjorn had their initial captaincy experience from the Seve Trophy, the Hero Cup's predeccessor.
Fleetwood and Francesco Molinari were on the same team in the 2018 Ryder Cup and won all four of their matches, thus earning the the nickname 'Moliwood'.
Hero Cup format
The tournament will feature two sides having 10 British and Irish players competing against 10 from Europe, all of them being DP World Tour members. The interesting part is that Europe's Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald has selected all the participants.
After the 19-9 loss in the last edition of the Ryder Cup, Donald seems to have pulled up his socks. Hero Cup will also help players get habitual of playing in the team format as a practice for the Ryder Cup.
"I think from the stats side, from Luke’s side, for the vice-captains, for myself and Fran, to the players, we are making it as close to the Ryder Cup as possible," said Fleetwood. “It’s a hugely important event for us all, this event in particular, and team golf is something that everybody from the last Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits, they wanted another team event. We wanted to be sharper in that team format," he added.
The event will be played in a foursome, four-ball, and singles format. All 20 players will take part in every session.
Five four-ball matches will be played on the 13th, followed by two sets of five foursomes matches on Saturday, one set in the morning and one in the evening. Ten singles will be played on Sunday.
The Hero Cup rounds will have 25 points at stake and the winning team will need 13 points to win. Odds are in Great Britain and Ireland's favor given they have names like Tyrrell Hatton, Shane Lowry, and Seamus Power
Here are the teams for the Hero Cup: