FRANCESCO MOLINARI

MOLINARI’S HIGHLIGHTS: • Molinari completed an outstanding Northern summer that saw him win on both the European and PGA Tours and claim his maiden major title at The Open before going 5-0-0 (win-loss-half) at The Ryder Cup in France. The Italian was the first European to achieve the feat and first player since America’s Larry Nelson completed the clean sweep in 1979. Four of Molinari’s points came alongside partner Tommy Fleetwood in the all-conquering combination immortalised as ‘Moliwood’, with his final win the cup-clinching point against Phil Mickelson in the Sunday singles. • The 35-year-old finished 2017 as the 21st player on the world ranking. But his wins in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, Quicken Loans National in America, as well as claiming the Claret Jug at Carnoustie, helped to elevate him to a career high World No.5 at the conclusion of the FedExCup playoffs, in which he finished 17th. • At the time of going to print, Molinari held a 1,413,961 point lead over Fleetwood on the European Tour’s Race to Dubai standings despite playing six less events than the Englishman with six events remaining in the season. • The three-time Ryder Cupper earnt an impressive US$5,065,842 throughout the 2017/18 wraparound PGA Tour season, some of which also counted towards Molinari eclipsing the €20million mark in career earnings in Europe. His total of €21,105,872 places him in 13th on the all-time list, one spot in front of this year’s winning Ryder Cup Captain Thomas Bjørn.