The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Molinari looking for more firsts
Italian Ryder Cup star hoping his remarkable season can get even better
It has been a season of firsts for Francesco Molinari but the Ryder Cup star is looking forward to two more before finally being able to reflect on a remarkable year.
Molinari became the first Italian player to win a major when he claimed the Open Championship at Carnoustie, which followed victory in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth and a maiden PGA Tour title in the Quicken Loans National.
The 36-year-old then became the first European player to compile a perfect 5-0 record in the Ryder Cup victory at Le Golf National, having already teamed up with Tommy Fleetwood to become the first European pair to win all four of their matches together.
And now Molinari is primed to win the Race to Dubai for the first time before becoming the first golfer to be awarded the Collare d’oro al merito sportivo, the highest honour conferred by the Italian National Olympic Committee.
“It’s definitely going to be a special moment,” Molinari said. “I think so far it’s only been given to Olympic gold medallists or world champions.
“It shows how well my win at the Open was received and hopefully it’s another step towards golf being more popular in Italy.
“Since May it’s all been going very fast and very quickly and so many things happening one after the other, that I haven’t had time really to sit down and think through what’s happened in the last few months.
“Hopefully I’ll be able to do the job this week and then sit down next week and start reflecting on the season and digest everything that’s happened before, starting to prepare for next year.”
Molinari leads Fleetwood by just over a million points in the Race to Dubai ahead of the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, where a top-five finish will guarantee him the title even if Fleetwood, the reigning European No 1, were to win.
The ‘Moliwood’ pair will play together in today’s first round and Molinari concedes their close friendship will make it impossible to attempt any sort of mind games.
“I know we’re going to sound really cheesy, but if I don’t win I’d rather see him win than anyone else,” Molinari added.