Molinari ends Italian PGA drought
Sweet-swinging Francesco Molinari “executed the plan perfectly” to clinch a first PGA Tour title in style by taking control on the back nine as he stormed to an emphatic eight-shot victory at the Quicken Loans National in Maryland on Sunday.
Molinari matched the course record with an eight-under-par 62 in the final round at TPC Potomac to become the first Italian winner on the US-based circuit since Toney Penna in 1947.
Swinging with metronomic precision, the two-times European Ryder Cup member stamped his authority on the field with a 50-foot eagle putt at the par-five 10th, before streaking further clear with four consecutive birdies from the 11th.
He finished on 21-under 259, while American Ryan Armour shot 68 to finish a distant second on 13-under.
“It was a lot easier than I thought,” Molinari told CBS television. “I played great. The start of the back nine was incredible. Really proud of what I’ve done and I hope a lot of guys back home were watching.”
His triumph vindicated the 35-year-old’s decision to skip this week’s French Open on his home tour, a tournament played on the same course that will host the Ryder Cup in late September. “It was not easy to skip Paris and the French Open but I think I can say it was the right decision,” Molinari said.
His plan, starting the day tied for the lead with Mexican Abraham Ancer, was to attack and he can consider his approach as a mission accomplished.
It was also an encouraging week for Tiger Woods as he continues to improve since his return to the circuit, shooting 66 to finish 10 shots behind the winner in a tie for fourth on his last start before the British Open. “It was nice to make a couple of birdies coming in, granted missed a little kick-in on 14,” he said after another solid display since undergoing spinal fusion surgery in 2017.
“I thought I might give myself a chance at the 10-under mark starting the turn. Evidently I would have had to shoot 24 on the back nine to have a chance.”
Though he came up short, the quality of Woods’s iron play for most of the week suggests he is getting closer to ending a fiveyear winless drought.
“I’m starting to make those putts you’re supposed to make from 10-15 feet but I’m also making some from outside 20.”
Also on Sunday, Armour, Ancer, Sung Kang and Bronson Burgoon qualified for the July 1922 British Open, as the top four finishers not previously exempt.