Italy to host The Ryder Cup in 2022

The Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, only 17km from the centre of Rome, will follow in the footsteps of Club de Golf Valderrama in Spain (1997) and Le Golf National in France (2018) - when the 44th edition of the match between Europe and the United States is staged in the autumn of 2022.

Four nations – Austria, Germany, Italy and Spain – had participated in an exhaustive and comprehensive Bid Process to identify the country best qualified to follow Hazeltine National in Minnesota next year; France in 2018 and Whistling Straits in Wisconsin in 2020, as host of the biennial contest. Initially the number had been seven when the process began in June last year, but Denmark, Portugal and Turkey withdrew their interest in the early stages.

Keith Pelley, Chief Executive of The European Tour – the Managing Partner of Ryder Cup Europe – led a five-strong Bid Evaluation Committee comprising Europe’s Ryder Cup Director Richard Hills, Ryder Cup Match Director Edward Kitson, The European Tour’s Director of Property and Venue Development David MacLaren and European Tour Chief Financial Officer Jonathan Orr, who thoroughly examined and evaluated all four Bids, including undertaking a series of site inspections.

The objective of the process was to enable Ryder Cup Europe to arrive at the correct sporting and commercial decision in terms of the host for 2022.

The Italian bid was consistently strong across all the areas evaluated and in particular in their pledge to undertake a complete reconstruction of the golf course at Marco Simone to the highest standards demanded by Ryder Cup Europe, in addition to a hugely significant commitment to the Italian Open in terms of guaranteeing a €7 million prize fund for the championship for 11 years, beginning in 2017. In 2016, the prize fund will double from its current figure of €1.5 million to a minimum of €3 million.

Keith Pelley said: “I would like to offer my congratulations to Italy whose bold and ambitious bid has seen them become the host nation for The 2022 Ryder Cup. History has shown time and again that The Ryder Cup is pure theatre with the players the stars, and there is no question that the Eternal City of Rome will provide a wonderful backdrop for one of the great occasions in world golf.

“With Paris in 2018 and now Rome in 2022 being the respective host cities for Europe’s next two stagings of biennial contest against the United States, the magical appeal of The Ryder Cup is set to continue.

“In addition, we have exciting plans for the development of The European Tour and our International Schedule for the benefit of all our players, and Italy shares this ambition. Their commitment to the Italian Open will provide an inspiring benchmark.”