Teams announced for Hero Cup
World class Noren, Pieters, Meronk, Lowry, Hatton and Power among those selected
Having worked closely with Tommy and Fran on building the two teams, I’m delighted with the mix of players.” Luke Donald » European Ryder Cup Captain
European Ryder Cup Captain Luke Donald has announced 18 players, to make up the Continental Europe and Great Britain and Ireland teams for next year’s Hero Cup in Abu Dhabi from January 13-15.
With the input of Hero Cup Captains Tommy Fleetwood and Francesco Molinari, who will both compete as playing Captains, Donald confirmed the teams with one remaining position for each team to be allocated at the conclusion of the DP World Tour calendar year.
“Having worked closely with Tommy and Fran on building the two teams, I’m delighted with the mix of players who will be on show at Abu Dhabi Golf Club in January,” Donald continued.
Experience & youthfulness
“We all thought it was important to combine experience and youthfulness and I think we have found that balance with a mixture of Major Champions and Ryder Cup players, alongside guys who are hoping to secure a spot in Rome next year.”
Donald and Molinari have constructed a strong mix of proven winners with Sweden’s Alex Noren and Belgium’s
Thomas Pieters bringing Ryder Cup experience to the Continental Europe ranks one week before the Belgian defends his Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship title at Yas Links.
Molinari’s team will be completed by a host of exciting young players including Austrian Sepp Straka, who won his maiden PGA TOUR title at The Honda Classic in 2022, three-time DP World Tour winner Rasmus Højgaard, two-time winner Victor Perez and Adrian Meronk, who became the first Polish player to win on the DP World Tour when he claimed the 2022 Horizon Irish Open.
Belgium’s Thomas Detry has also enjoyed a strong start to his rookie PGA TOUR season finishing in the top12 in three of the five events played — including second place in the Butterfield Bermuda Championship — and has six top-15 finishes on the DP World Tour.
He is joined by three-time DP World Tour winner Guido Migliozzi, who claimed the biggest victory of his career in September at the Cazoo Open de France.
Led by two-time Ryder Cup player Fleetwood, his team boasts 2019 Open Champion Shane Lowry and four-time Rolex Series winner Tyrrell Hatton amongst its ranks.
Stunning start
Irishman Séamus Power, who has enjoyed a stunning start to the 2023 PGA TOUR season and currently leads the FedEx Cup Standings, and DP World Tour winners Ewen Ferguson, Robert MacIntyre, Callum Shinkwin, Jordan Smith and Matt Wallace. All selected for Team GB&I in a hope to make an impression to Donald for the Ryder Cup later in 2023.
Dr Pawan Munjal, Chairman and CEO, Hero MotoCorp, said: ‘We are delighted to see the best of emerging talent from Europe together with established Major Champions and Ryder Cup stars at the upcoming Hero Cup in January. It is going to be a fantastic week of top class golf and a keen tussle on the course between these two strong teams.’