McIlroy lets it slide again
first birdie came at the eighth but he gave it straight back at the next hole after going left off the tee. Another bogey at the 10th left him playing catch-up with the tidy Molinari and, with the Italian in no mood for charity, it proved too much.
He finished strongly with birdies at 17 and 18 and was a roll short of an eagle at the last which could have applied some belated heat.
But Molinari, runner-up at Wentworth last year, had a threeshot cushion down the last and despite almost contriving to spin his wedge approach back into the drink, two-putted from there to deliver the fifth European Tour title of his career.
“To be honest when I saw Rory was five shots ahead of me after two days I thought it was going to be really tough to catch him,” said Molinari. “But to play 44 holes bogey-free is impressive even by my high standards.
“I don’t want to sound too arrogant but I think I showed today that I can do pretty much everything as well as the top guys in the world. I didn’t feel intimidated by Rory at all.”
Molinari, who pocketed £872,000 for his exertions, is set to move back into the world’s top 20 today. The 35-year-old has his sights set on a Ryder Cup return in Paris in September.
“It’s on a course that I love and where my record is almost as good as here and I’d love to be there,” added Molinari.