Edoardo Molinari returns to the Final Stage of Qualifying School this week looking to repeat his victory in the same event in 2024 and return once more to the DP World Tour, where he has made 448 starts since his debut in 1999.
The three-time DP World Tour winner, and right-hand man to Luke Donald over the past two Ryder Cups, joined us to discuss the injuries that have hampered his last two seasons, what continues to motivate him, and how he is going to approach his latest visit to the Hills and Lakes Courses at INFINITUM...
Since you won Q-School in 2024, you've been limited to playing 21 events on the DP World Tour across the past two seasons. This is largely through injuries, due to first wrist and then thumb surgery. Ahead of what promises to be a gruelling week, how is your fitness and health?
It's very good, finally. As you say, I had a few issues in the last few years, but I had my last surgery in August last year. At the start of this year, it was a little bit tough in the beginning to start playing again at a decent level, but I feel like after the summer I started to play a bit better and got some half decent results. But the good thing is that I can now practice and play without any sort of pain, which is the main thing because it has been difficult to practice for quite a few years now.
You’re a three-time DP World Tour winner, have made almost 450 starts, you are serving as a Ryder Cup Vice Captain for a third consecutive edition and you have an analytics business, so what is the main fuel at this point in your career?
I want to prove to myself I can still play at the highest level of the game and I feel like I'm still capable of that. I really like playing this game too and I want to play a little bit longer. Being a Ryder Cup Vice Captain has obviously taken some time away on my side, but at the same time it has allowed me to share practice rounds and dinners and experiences with these amazing players. Even if I haven’t played, I feel like that's helped my game in another way.
The main thing is I want to prove to myself that I'm capable of doing this. I won Final Stage of Qualifying School two years ago. In a long tournament like this, experience is probably what helped. It’s going to be a very long week, I just have to be patient but hopefully at the end of the week I’ll have one of those DP World Tour cards.
It’s been a little while since you played competitively worldwide, so how have you used that time to recharge in the knowledge you had this week lined up?
Yes, my last event was at the French Open, so I think it was like five weeks ago. I’ve had some good time at home where, you know, I had some rest at the beginning and then spent time practicing and working on my game. I am refreshed and recharged and hopefully I can play well at Q-School and then be off to Australia and then Mauritius and start getting some points on the board.
As someone who is so statistically minded, how aware are you that you’re approaching 450 starts and is reaching the 500-club, a big milestone of longevity, something that serves as a source of motivation?
Honestly, I had no idea! Not really. As I say, I didn’t even know I was at 448 starts. Being able to play and squeeze a couple more years out of my game is the main aim. If I get to that 500-start milestone then great, but it's not something that I'm going to lose any sleep about.
If you aren’t successful at Q-School this week, how do you envisage your 2027 season looking like?
I still have one more event on a medical exemption, so if I play half decent in that event, I will have a decent category for next year regardless of Q-School. So, there's also always that plan B that could work. And then if Q-School doesn't work out and I don't play well and I end up with a not very good category, I will reevaluate at the beginning of the season. If I had to go back to the HotelPlanner Tour, I wouldn’t mind it. I'm probably going to play almost a full schedule there if hopefully, touch wood, I keep being fit. I think being fit is the main thing now. If I am healthy and able to play, I’m not a player who has 450-odd events and who is not going to go play on the HotelPlanner Tour. I don’t have an issue with that if that’s the case.
