Molinari wins ahead of a prowling Tiger
Francesco Molinari played a steady hand amid the cheers for Tiger Woods and another crazy ending at Carnoustie to win the British Open and become Italy’s first major champion.
Woods brought pandemonium by charging into the lead yesterday at a major for the first time in nine years, only to lose it with one bad hole. Jordan Spieth cost himself by failing to make a single birdie.
Seven players had a share of the lead at some point. Six were still tied on the back nine.
Through all that, Molinari never flinched.
He closed with a two-under 69, playing the final 37 holes on the toughest links in golf without a bogey.
Molinari won the Claret Jug by two shots from Rory McIlroy (70), English hope Justin Rose (69) and Americans Xander Schauffele (74) and Kevin Kisner (74).
Molinari raised his fist and shook it lightly before slamming it for emphasis.
‘‘Just disbelief, to be honest,’’ the 35-year-old said with the gleaming Claret Jug in front of him. ‘‘To go the weekend bogeyfree, it’s unthinkable. Playing with Tiger was another challenge. But I felt really good this morning. I felt I was ready for the challenge."
He finished at eight-under 276, the lowest score in eight Opens at Carnoustie, the course where Jean van de Velde threw away the British Open with a triple bogey on the last hole in 1999, where Padraig Harrington twice hit into Barry Burn on the last hole to make double bogey and still won.
Earlier in the day, Woods had every reason to believe he would cap a most amazing comeback.
He had a one-shot lead until a double bogey on the 11th hole, a bogey on the next.
‘‘To go the weekend bogey-free, it’s unthinkable. Playing with Tiger was another challenge. But I felt really good this morning. I felt I was ready for the challenge.’’
Francesco Molinari
With the wind gusting, Molinari was the only player from the last four groups to break par.
Woods closed with a 71 to tie for sixth, three shots behind. It was the first time since 2007 that he trailed going into the final round of a major, had the lead and failed to win.
The victory adds to Molinari’s best stretch of golf. Now at a career-best No 6 in the world, he has won three times and been runner-up twice in the past two months.
All of the chasing pack made mistakes, big and small.
The biggest blunder belonged to Woods, his red shirt blazing against the yellow grass of dry Scottish summer. The roars for his two birdies could be heard from all corners of Carnoustie. It felt like old times, as everyone Woods was chasing began to collapse.
Woods was at seven-under, in control of his game and hitting shots that only he can. From a pot bunker on No 10, he took a bold and vicious swing to get it over the lip, over the burn and to the front edge of the green.
And then it all went wrong. He pulled his shot from the rough on No 11 into the gallery, fluffed a wedge short of the green, ran it by eight feet and missed the putt for double bogey. Another poor swing followed and led to another bogey, and just like that, Woods was two shots behind.
Spieth went from a bogey-free round on Sunday that gave him a share of the lead to a birdie-free round that led to a 76, his highest fourth round score in a major.