Francesco Molinari is hoping to unleash his inner football manager this week as he seeks a second win as Continental Europe Captain at the Team Cup.
The Italian has supported Serie A giants Inter Milan in his native Italy since he was a child but also follows West Ham's fortunes in the Premier League.
While many footballers play golf, most weeks the two sports could not be more different, although the team match play format this week at Abu Dhabi Golf Resort brings them closer together.
Molinari has countryman Matteo Manassero, five Danes and three Frenchman to skipper this week and after having seven nationalities in his team for the 14½-10½ victory over Great Britain and Ireland in 2023, the 2018 Open champion feels his job has never been closer to that of Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho and co.
"The team dynamics always fascinated me," he said. "I'm a huge football fan so always dreamt of being a football player and a football manager.
"So this is probably as close as it gets to being a football manager.
"Compared to two years ago, it's a little bit different because we only have three nationalities, really, in our team.
"So on one hand, it should be easier, probably, to get some of the guys to gel but at the same time, you don't want to have three groups of people not gelling with each other. It's interesting."
Two of Molinari's charges in 2023 in Nicolai Højgaard and Sepp Straka went on to be part of the victorious Ryder Cup team in Rome and Højgaard returns this year alongside 2018 Ryder Cup player Thorbjørn Olesen.
Not only does Molinari have that experience to call upon but he also has Ryder Cup Captain Luke Donald and his brother Edoardo, alongside whom he played in the 2010 Ryder Cup, who will once again serve as a Ryder Cup Vice Captain.
Edoardo's insights into statistics and analysis is seen by many as a key weapon in Europe's arsenal for Bethpage Black later in the year and Francesco is keen to utilise everything at his disposal this week.
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"I think that the experience from two years ago is going to come in handy," he said. "I think a lot of the stuff that we did worked.
"I think obviously we were lucky to get the support from my brother and the other past Ryder Cup captains. It wasn't like I had to create anything new.
"I'll do probably something similar maybe with a couple of tweaks here and there.
"Edoardo's here helping both teams and trying to be as neutral as possible, I think.
"We've been looking at that actually for a few weeks now, looking at different combinations of players and strengths and weaknesses is definitely something that comes in handy when we need to write down the pairings."
As well as his victory in this event two years ago, Molinari has a host of experience playing team golf on the biggest stage, with three wins from three Ryder Cup appearances, including 2018 when he became the first European to win five ppoints from five.
His GB&I counterpart Justin Rose was also part of that team in Paris for one his four Ryder Cup victories and Molinari is expecting a fierce battle against the former world number one.
"We are expecting a very tough challenge and really strong team," he said.
"I'm sure Justin is going to do a really good job. He's a meticulous player and I'm sure he's going to have the same approach when it comes down to his captaincy.
"We are going to be ready for the challenge and hopefully it's going to be three days of great golf."
