MOL’S DAVE RAVE
At last! The vintage Woods everyone has been waiting to see
X Schauffele (USA) 71 66 67, K Kisner (USA) 66 70 68, J Spieth (USA) 72 67 65 K Chappell (USA) 70 69 67 Molinari (Ita) 70 72 65
R Mcilroy 69 69 70, T Woods (USA) 71 71 66, Z Johnson (USA) 69 67 72, A Noren (Swe) 70 71 67, T Fleetwood 72 65 71, M Kuchar (USA) 70 68 70, W Simpson (USA) 70 71 67 T Finau (USA) 67 71 71, C Hoffman (USA) 71 70 68, A Scott (Aus) 71 70 68, J Rose 72 73 64, A Cook (USA) 72 70 67, Z Lombard (Rsa) 67 71 71, E Van Rooyen (Rsa) 67 71 71 C Wood 70 74 66, K Stanley (USA) 72 69 69, Byeong-hun An (Kor) 73 71 66, D Willett 69 71 70, H Li (Chn) 71 72 67, T Olesen (Den) 70 70 70, Y Miyazato (Jpn) 71 74 65, R Moore (USA) 68 73 69 S Kodaira (Jpn) 72 71 68, P Perez (USA) 69 68 74, S Norris (Rsa) 74 68 69, P Cantlay (USA) 70 71 70, L Oosthuizen (Rsa) 72 70 69, L Herbert (Aus) 73 69 69, M Kim (USA) 73 69 69, S Crocker (USA) 71 71 69 P Mickelson (USA) 73 69 70, B Langer (Ger) 73 71 68, E Pepperell 71 70 71, R Fowler (USA) 70 69 73 J Dufner (USA) 75 70 68, R Fisher 75 70 68, S Kang (Kor) 69 72 72, B Stone (Rsa) 68 72 73, S Cink (USA) 72 70 71, T Lewis 75 70 68, J Suri (USA) 74 69 70, M Leishman (Aus) 72 72 69, P Reed (USA) 75 70 68, L Westwood 72 72 69, T Pieters (Bel) 70 73 70 J Day (Aus) 71 71 72, M Kinhult (Swe) 74 69 71, Y Ikeda (Jpn) 70 73 71, A Hadwin (Can) 73 70 71, M Southgate 69 72 73 S Sharma (Ind) 73 71 71, G Woodland (USA) 71 72 72, R Enoch 74 71 70, M Kawamura (Jpn) 77 67 71, S Locke (a) 72 73 70 R Fox (Nzl) 74 71 71, C Davis (Aus) 71 72 73, B Rumford (Aus) 74 70 72, K Na (USA) 70 73 73, B Koepka (USA) 72 69 75, P Casey 73 71 72, G Green (Mal) 72 73 71, H Stenson (Swe) 70 75 71 L List (USA) 70 70 77, B Steele (USA) 68 76 73, C Smith (Aus) 73 71 73, P Dunne 71 73 73, T Hatton 74 71 72 K Bradley (USA) 74 71 73, B Dechambeau (USA) 75 70 73, S Woo Kim (Kor) 71 72 75 K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 74 71 74 B Hossler (USA) 73 70 77, R Cabrera-bello (Spa) 74 70 76 FRANCESCO MOLINARI credited Johnny Wilkinson’s former coaching guru for his golden summer – and his Open challenge.
The Italian has won twice – including the BMW PGA – and finished runner-up twice in his last five starts.
And the Ryder Cup star (below) continued his hot form with a 65 at Carnoustie yesterday to move into a share of fifth place.
Molinari is now working with Dave Alred, who took Luke Donald to world No.1 and helped former Open champion Padraig Harrington.
The world No.15 said: “In many ways, I think Dave’s been a great addition to the team. He’s probably a personality and a figure that I was missing and the whole team was missing. So I think he pushed us all a little bit more. You can see the results, the difference that he’s made.
“He’s worked on a lot of things mentally, on my game, on my short game, on my long game. He’s really helped me a lot.”
Molinari finished tied second at last year’s US PGA but now he is ready to take the next step and become Italy’s first Major winner. “I’m really happy with where I am at the moment,” he said. “I know tomorrow is going to be a different story. Now it’s all about getting ready for that.”
Sweden’s Alex Noren is a shot further back after bogeying the 18th in his 67.
Bernhard Langer, who qualified as Senior Open champion at the age of 60, could play his final Open round today after shooting a 68 yesterday.
“It’s a good day in the office,” said the German. “I played very well, hit some great iron shots.
“The support was great. Almost felt like the old days. It could well be my last round. That’s the only way I’m going to get back in the tournament is by winning the Senior Open Championship because I’m not going to go and qualify.”