At this moment, a Google search of “Marco Simone” will produce a bunch of posts on golf and the Ryder Cup. Understandable, given that the 44th edition pitting the United States against Europe will soon be contested outside of Rome at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club.

However, the only immediate post you’ll find on someone named Marco Simone is for a 54-year-old Italian former footballer who once played for AC Milan. Mr Simone accomplished some nice things in his career, but hardly enough to have a golf course — and castle — named after him.

For the Marco Simone, we have to go back to well before golf was invented, to the middle 1400s. According to the Italian history books, a tower of stone was built in about the year 1000 in the Roman countryside and eventually sold to nobleman Simone dei Tebraldo. His son was Marco di Simone, and the two added to the property with buildings that would become a palace said to be among the best-preserved structures of its kind from the Agro Roman area. The history of the place is stunning — its dungeon houses the remains of fossils that have been pegged at 300,000 years old.

After Marco Simone died, Cardinals and Dukes took turns managing the property, and, obviously, a lot happened over the next four centuries. Astronomer Galileo Galilei lived in the castle in the 1600s. An envious existence until later in the 17th century, when wealthy people stopped going to the countryside because of a malaria outbreak.

The castle and the property fell into complete disrepair for most of the 20th century, until a famous Italian fashion designer and her husband took interest. Laura Biagiotti, who founded the House of Biagiotti and was known as the “Queen of Cashmere”, purchased the estate in 1978, along with her husband, Gianni Cigna.

“The restoration of Marco Simone’s castle was like a madness that took me and that I followed gently. It was a pivotal choice in my life at 35 years,” Biagiotti is quoted as saying in a story on the golf club’s website.

The Marco Simone golf course opened in 1989 was originally designed by Jim Fazio and was fully restored by his more well-known son, Tom Fazio, with a price tag of $13 million.

Laura Biagiotti, Italian Golf Federation President Franco Chimenti, European Tour CEO Keith Pelley and Lavinia Biagiotti pose with the 2015 press conference announcing the Ryder Cup would go to Italy. Paolo Bruno

“We had bulldozers here for two-and-a-half years and we tried to reach excellence,” Lavinia Biagiotti Cigna, Laura’s daughter, told the Associated Press in 2021. “This is what we want to offer to the world: a unique destination with amazing golfing features but not just that — with a typical Italian atmosphere, with culture, passion, food and friendship.”

Italy was awarded the 2022 Ryder Cup in December 2015 while the family matriarch was still alive. Its staging then had to be pushed back to this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sadly, Laura Biagiotti didn’t live to see Marco Simone experience its greatest attention and glory for the Ryder Cup. She suffered a heart attack on the castle grounds in May 2017 and died two days later.

The post Who is Marco Simone and why is Italy’s Ryder Cup course named in his honour? appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald made his six captain’s picks on Monday to solidify his squad that will join US captain Zach Johnson’s American team in Rome later this month. The 44th playing of Ryder Cup will be played from September 29-October 1 at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club.

Donald added Ludvig Aberg, Tommy Fleetwood, Nicolai Højgaard, Shane Lowry, Justin Rose and Sepp Straka to the six who had already automatically qualified — Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Robert MacIntyre, Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton and Matt Fitzpatrick.

For the US squad, Johnson selected Sam Burns, Rickie Fowler, Brooks Koepka, Collin Morikawa, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas as his captain’s picks last week after the Tour Championship. Scottie Scheffler, Patrick Cantlay, Max Homa, Xander Schauffele, Brian Harman and Wyndham Clark were automatic qualifiers.

So, with the 24-men now finalised, we thought we’d dig into some of the numbers and, in boxing terms, come up with a tale of the tape, comparing both squads. Keep in mind that the US are the defending champions and have won two of the last three Ryder Cups, but Europe have won seven of the last 10. The US hasn’t won in Europe in 30 years.

Here are the goods …

United States

Sam Burns
Age: 27
World Rank: 20
Ryder Cup Record: Rookie

Patrick Cantlay
Age: 31
World Rank: 5
Ryder Cup Record: 3-0-1 (one appearance)

Wyndham Clark
Age: 29
World Rank: 10
Ryder Cup Record: rookie

Rickie Fowler
Age: 34
World Rank: 26
Ryder Cup Record: 3-7-5 (four appearances)

Brian Harman
Age: 36
World Rank: 9
Ryder Cup Record: rookie

Max Homa
Age: 32
World Rank: 7
Ryder Cup Record: rookie

Brooks Koepka
Age: 33
World Rank: 15
Ryder Cup Record: 6-5-1 (three appearances)

Collin Morikawa
Age: 26
World Rank: 19
Ryder Cup Record: 3-0-1 (one appearance)

Xander Schauffele
Age: 29
World Rank: 6
Ryder Cup Record: 3-1-0 (one appearance)

Scottie Scheffler
Age: 27
World Rank: 1
Ryder Cup Record: 2-0-1 (one appearance)

Jordan Spieth
Age: 30
World Rank: 12
Ryder Cup Record: 8-7-3 (four appearances)

Justin Thomas
Age: 30
World Rank: 25
Ryder Cup Record: 6-2-1 (two appearances)

Europe

Stuart Franklin

Ludvig Aberg
Age: 23
World Rank: 90
Ryder Cup Record: rookie

Matt Fitzpatrick
Age: 29
World Rank: 8
Ryder Cup Record: 0-5-0 (two appearances)

Tommy Fleetwood
Age: 32
World Rank: 14
Ryder Cup Record: 4-2-2 (two appearances)

Tyrrell Hatton
Age: 31
World Rank: 13
Ryder Cup Record: 2-4-1 (two appearances)

Nicolai Højgaard
Age: 22
World Rank: 78
Ryder Cup Record: rookie

Viktor Hovland
Age: 25
World Rank: 4
Ryder Cup Record: 0-3-2 (one appearance)

Shane Lowry
Age: 36
World Rank: 37
Ryder Cup Record: 1-2-0 (one appearance)

Robert MacIntyre
Age: 27
World Rank: 54
Ryder Cup Record: rookie

Rory McIlroy
Age: 34
World Rank: 2
Ryder Cup Record: 12-12-4 (six appearances)

Jon Rahm
Age: 28
World Rank: 3
Ryder Cup Record: 4-3-1 (two appearances)

Justin Rose
Age: 43
World Rank: 34
Ryder Cup Record: 13-8-2 (five appearances)

Sepp Straka
Age: 30
Ryder Cup Record: rookie

Totals

Andrew Redington

United States
Average Age: 30.33
Average World Rank: 12.916
Total Ryder Cups Played: 17
Combined Ryder Cup Record: 34-22-13
Majors Won: 15

Europe
Average Age: 30
Average World Rank: 30
Total Ryder Cups Played: 21
Combined Ryder Cup Record: 36-39-12
Majors Won: 9

The post Ryder Cup tale of the tape: Comparing the European and American squads appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.