The tranquillity of an alfresco breakfast being enjoyed in a quiet piazza in Trastevere, Rome, was suddenly broken by my wife leaping to her feet, phone in hand in a desperate rush to ‘Shazam’ a tune that had caught her ear on the café’s playlist.
“He’s the greatest singer in Italian history,” declared the young barista with a beaming smile, probably too young to know or understand that Pavarotti or Bocelli amongst others might like a word in response to his proclamation.
I’m not certain ‘exaggeration’ is anything that Italians can claim as uniquely their own but there’s a sense those involved locally in the planning for the 2023 Ryder Cup from September 29 to October 1 would have you think this one, the first ever to be played on Italian soil, will also be up there with ‘The Greatest’ in history.
I doubt too that there would be many on the European side of the ledger who would disagree, especially if Luke Donald and his merry men can reclaim the Cup so forcefully removed from their grasp by the Americans at Whistling Straits in 2021.
Appointed to the captaincy shortly after the LIV Golf-bound Henrik Stenson was removed from the position,
