Justin Rose starstruck by Zola: ‘Not often do you say ‘wow’ when you meet someone’

Golfer Justin Rose admits that he was completely starstruck when he saw Chelsea and Italy legend Gianfranco Zola in the team hotel ahead of the 2025 Ryder Cup: ‘I meet some really cool people in my life and not often do you go ‘woah’ when you meet someone.’ 

Zola making impression on golfers at Ryder Cup

Zola is part of the European team staff for the 2025 Ryder Cup, serving as the official buggy driver for vice-captain and close friend Francesco Molinari. 

Rose, who will be representing Europe at the 2025 Ryder Cup, told BBC Sport that he was completely overawed at the sight of Zola on the Black Course at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, New York. 

“So, I didn’t know he was coming actually, and I literally walked around the corner in the hotel and bumped into him and I was like ‘woah’. I meet some really cool people in my life and not often do you go ‘woah’ when you meet someone,” Rose said. 

“I literally bumped into him and was like ‘wow that was cool’. 

“He brings good energy, obviously a team culture and a spirit of knowing what it’s like to be in a locker room.” 

“A great surprise and he’s such a lovely guy and obviously a hell of a career.” 

Justin Rose just got starstruck by Gianfranco Zola pic.twitter.com/dFfK5aulst

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) September 24, 2025

Zola, who made more Premier League appearances than any other Italian during his playing career, has also weighed in with advice for the European players at the Ryder Cup: 

“First of all, you have to get into a kind of protective bubble. That’s one of the first things you learn when you play football, because that’s the environment you’re in. You have to use it to your advantage, you have to keep yourself motivated and succeed,” he recently told Sky Sports.