Francesco Molinari (1 Open, 2 Ryder Cup's.)

1982

Francesco Molinari (born 8 November 1982) is an Italian professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and the European Tour. Molinari is a five-time winner on the European Tour, including the 2018 BMW PGA Championship, and in July 2018, he won his first PGA Tour event at the Quicken Loans National. He subsequently won the 2018 Open Championship, his first major victory, and the first major won by an Italian professional golfer.^[1]

Molinari was born in Turin, Italy, and is the younger brother of Edoardo Molinari. As an amateur, he won the Italian Amateur Stroke Play Championship twice, and the Italian Match Play Championship in 2004. He turned professional later that year.

Molinari earned his European Tour card for 2005 through qualifying school. He finished in 86th place on the tour's Order of Merit in his rookie season.

In May 2006, Molinari claimed his first European Tour victory, becoming the first Italian since Massimo Mannelli in 1980 to win the Telecom Italia Open.^[2] This victory helped him finish 38th on the Order of Merit. Molinari didn't win on Tour between 2007 and 2009 but during that time he recorded twenty top-10 finishes including three runner-up finishes. He finished 60th on the Order of Merit in 2007, 24th in 2008 and 14th in the Race to Dubai in 2009. In October 2009, Molinari reached the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time.

On 29 November 2009, Molinari, along with his older brother Edoardo, led Italy to their first World Cup victory at the Omega Mission Hills World Cup in China.^[3]

2010 was Molinari's best year on Tour to date. On 7 November 2010, Molinari won the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, China. He defeated Lee Westwood by one stroke, finishing at 19-under par.^[4] The win moved him into 14th in the Official World Golf Ranking, his highest ranking to date. He also recorded eleven top-10 finishes including two runner-up finishes en route to a 5th-place finish in the Race to Dubai.

In October 2010, he represented Europe in the 2010 Ryder Cup which took place at Celtic Manor Resort, teaming up with his brother Edoardo in the four-balls (halved against Stuart Cink and Matt Kuchar) and foursomes (lost against Zach Johnson and Hunter Mahan). He then lost the singles match by 4 and 3 against Tiger Woods on the final day. Europe defeated the United States 14½–13½.

Molinari had a steady 2011 without any further victories but did record seven top-10 finishes, including a 3rd place at the WGC-Cadillac Championship. He finished the year ranked 21st in the Race to Dubai.

Molinari picked up his third win on the European Tour on 6 May 2012 at the Reale Seguros Open de España. He was four strokes out of the lead going into the final round but fired a 65 (−7), the best round of the tournament, to win by three strokes over Alejandro Cañizares, Søren Kjeldsen and Pablo Larrazábal.^[5] In July 2012, the week before the Open Championship, Molinari lost in a playoff at the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open. He was defeated on the first playoff hole by Jeev Milkha Singh.

Molinari gained an automatic selection for the 2012 Ryder Cup, where he played the foursomes with Lee Westwood on Friday, losing by 3 and 2 to Jason Dufner and Zach Johnson; he then teamed up in the four-balls with Justin Rose, losing by 5 and 4 against Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson. On the final day, he halved with Tiger Woods the last singles match. The half-point meant Europe not only completed a comeback from 10–6 down at the start of the final day to retain the cup, but won it outright by a score of 14½ points to 13½.^[6]

During the 2013 and 2014 seasons Molinari didn't register any win, but his steady position in the top fifty of the OWGR ranking allowed him to play several PGA Tour events as a non-member, where he reached three top ten finishes; among these the most prestigious result was the 6th place at the 2014 Players Championship. These results allowed him to earn a full PGA Tour card for the 2014–15 season.

In 2015 and 2016 Molinari shared his time between the European Tour and PGA Tour. In September 2016 he became the first Italian to win his national open twice with a 1 shot victory over Danny Willett at the 2016 Italian Open. Other notable results in Europe were the 2nd places collected at the 2015 Open de España and 2016 Open de France, while in the US he collected a 3rd place at the 2015 Memorial Tournament. In the same year he also recorded a hole in one in the iconic 16th hole of the Waste Management Phoenix Open.^[7]

Molinari recorded his fifth European Tour win and first Rolex Series titles in May 2018, with victory in the European Tour's flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship. He produced a flawless final round to see off Rory McIlroy by two strokes. The win took Molinari level with Costantino Rocca, for most European Tour wins by an Italian. In the same year, Molinari won the Quicken Loans National in a dominating fashion by shooting a 62 on Sunday to win by eight strokes, the first PGA Tour win for an Italian since 1947. At the 2018 Open Championship, Molinari won the tournament with a score of -8 par, pairing with Tiger Woods in the final round.^[1]

Molinari is a fan of English football team West Ham United after Italian football manager Gianfranco Zola started managing the East London side in 2008.^[8]

Amateur wins x 5

2002 Italian Amateur Stroke Play Championship, Italian Amateur Foursomes Championship (with Edoardo Molinari)
2004 Italian Amateur Stroke Play Championship, Italian Match Play Championship, Sherry Cup (ESP)

Professional wins x 9

PGA Tour wins x 2

Legend
Major championships (1)
Other PGA Tour events (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	1 Jul 2018	Quicken Loans National	67-65-65-62=259	−21	8 strokes	Ryan Armour
2	22 Jul 2018	The Open Championship	70-72-65-69=276	−8	2 strokes	Kevin Kisner, Rory McIlroy Justin Rose, Xander Schauffele

European Tour wins (6)[edit]

Legend
Major championships (1)
World Golf Championships (1)
BMW PGA Championships (1)
Other European Tour (3)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s) up
1	7 May 2006	Telecom Italia Open	68-65-67-65=265	−23	4 strokes	Anders Hansen, Jarmo Sandelin
2	7 Nov 2010	WGC-HSBC Champions	65-70-67-67=269	−19	1 stroke	Lee Westwood
3	6 May 2012	Reale Seguros Open de España	70-71-74-65=280	−8	3 strokes	Alejandro Cañizares, Søren Kjeldsen, Pablo Larrazábal
4	18 Sep 2016	Italian Open (2)	65-68-64-65=262	−22	1 stroke	Danny Willett
5	27 May 2018	BMW PGA Championship	70-67-66-68=271	−17	2 strokes	Rory McIlroy
6	22 Jul 2018	The Open Championship	70-72-65-69=276	−8	2 strokes	Kevin Kisner, Rory McIlroy Justin Rose, Xander Schauffele

European Tour playoff record (0–3)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	2008	UBS Hong Kong Open	Lin Wen-tang, Rory McIlroy	Lin won with birdie on second extra hole Molinari eliminated by par on first hole
2	2010	Alstom Open de France	Alejandro Cañizares, Miguel Ángel Jiménez	Jiménez won with par on first extra hole
3	2012	Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open	Jeev Milkha Singh	Lost to birdie on first extra hole

Other wins x 2

2009 Italian PGA Championship, Omega Mission Hills World Cup (with Edoardo Molinari)

Major championships

Wins x 1

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runners-up
2018	The Open Championship	3 shot deficit	−8 (70-72-65-69=276)	2 strokes	Kevin Kisner, Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Xander Schauffele

Results timeline

Tournament	2007	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Masters Tournament			T30	CUT	T19	CUT	50			T33	T20
U.S. Open		T27	CUT	CUT	T29	CUT	T23	T27		CUT	T25
The Open Championship	CUT	T13	CUT	CUT	T39	T9	T15	T40	T36	CUT	1
PGA Championship		T10	T33	T34	T54	T33	T58	T54	T22	T2