Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
MOLI UPSTAGES RORY
ITALIAN TAKES IMPRESSIVE PALMER INVITATIONAL WIN IN FLORIDA:
FRANCESCO MOLINARI clinched an unlikely twostroke victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational when he stormed home with a closing eight-under-par 64 in Florida yesterday.
The British Open champion enjoyed his “best putting day ever” which he capped off by sinking a 45-foot birdie at the difficult par-four 18th at Bay Hill in Orlando.
The day ended in disappointment for Rory Mcilroy who began the afternoon just one shot off the top of the leaderboard from Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick. An impressive 66 on Saturday put Mcilroy right in the mix to defend the title he won last year but he was unable to maintain his momentum and had to eventually settle for a share of sixth place.
The usually low-key Italian Molinari raised his right arm in the air with his index finger outstretched to hail his final putt in scenes reminiscent of his Open victory last year at Carnoustie.
The impressive Italian posted a 12-under 276 total and, after a two-hour wait in the clubhouse, celebrated his third PGA Tour victory when none of the overnight frontrunners could match his total.
English overnight leader Fitzpatrick shot 71 to claim second place on 10under.
“I thought there was an outside chance and just started making putts,” 36-year-old Molinari told NBC television about his mindset after he had teed off five strokes from the lead.
“Probably have to say my best putting round ever. I don’t know if I could have done a lot more than that to be honest.”
Asked what had elevated his game over the past year, he said confidence had a lot to do with it. Molinari admitted: “In the summer I went through a run of golf that was really hard to believe, even for me.
“The winter came and it was time to find some motivation, which wasn’t extremely easy after last year.
“The smartest thing to do was to take a long break.”