Edoardo (left) and Francesco Molinari both are
determined to reach No. 1 in the world rankings.
This afternoon, Edoardo Molinari, at
29 the older of the two Ryder Cup brothers, is having a meeting in Turin with his
local coach, Sergio Bertaina, and with his
“Tour” coach, Denis Pugh. The three will
discuss Edoardo’s preparations for the
Ryder Cup and, at the same time, they will
talk of his longer-term plan. Namely, to
reach No. 1 on the world rankings.
For the record, Pugh expects him to
make it.
A kindred meeting will take place later
in the month in London where the younger
brother, the 28-year-old Francesco, has his
base. Francesco shares the same dream
as Edoardo and, yes, Pugh expects him to
make it, too.
The brothers may speak about their
common aim when they are together but
there is an unwritten rule that Bertaina and
Pugh work with them as individuals, never
together. When one of the brothers is having
a lesson or a tête-à-tête with one or both of
the coaches, the other brother never gets a
mention.
Pugh, who also coaches Ross Fisher
from the ranks of the European team,
laughs at the rumour which went the rounds
during the recent Johnnie Walker tourna-
ment, the last counting event for Ryder Cup
purposes. The rumour in question was that
Francesco, the third-round leader, backed
off on the last day in order that Edoardo
might win and have a better chance of join-
ing him in the team.
attempted to alter Colin Montgomerie’s
relatively long and flowing action when he
worked with him, he has encouraged the
brothers to keep their backswings short,
with a minimum of wrist action. “The reason they don’t swing back far is that their
power emanates from their body turn or,
to be more precise, the spring in their core
muscles,” explains the coach.
When it comes to the week at Celtic Manor, an understandably proud Pugh suggests
that everyone who follows the brothers will
be struck by the quality of their striking and
their general all-round skill. At the same
time, he thinks that people will pick up on
the bright-eyed passion and the pluck which
could take them to the very top. l
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