Olesen keeps his cool and wins Italian Open ahead of Molinari

Italy’s Francesco Molinari came up agonisingly short in his bid for back-to-back wins and a third Italian Open crown as Thorbjorn Olesen held his nerve to claim the fifth European Tour title of his career.

Olesen carded a flawless closing 64 at Gardagolf to finish 22 under par, a shot ahead of home favourite Molinari, who recently won the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

The two players had been tied for the lead with two holes remaining but Molinari followed four straight birdies by dropping just his second shot of the week on the 17th and Olesen birdied the same hole in the group behind to take a two-shot lead.

The Italian refused to throw in the towel and holed a curling birdie putt on the last from 40 feet to complete a 65 and pile on the pressure – but Olesen got up and down from a greenside bunker for par to secure the first prize of £874,000 in the second Rolex Series event of 2018.

“This is my first time coming from behind to win so that’s very special to me,” Olesen said after a victory that takes him just outside the automatic qualifying places for September’s Ryder Cup, when fellow Dane Thomas Bjorn will captain the European side.

“I always wanted to come up the leaderboard and take the trophy. I’ve never had that putt on the last to win a tournament so that’s why this one feels so amazing.”

Spain’s Rafa Cabrera Bello was fourth on 18 under, with Lee Westwood, Graeme Mcdowell and Andy Sullivan a shot further back in a tie for fifth.

Ian Poulter, Martin Kaymer and Danny Willett were all a shot further back, while David Drysdale – the sole Scot playing at the weekend – carded a 71 to finish on six under.