Golf: a “ridiculously clinical” Open champion

On Sunday, the Open boasted “one of the great leader boards” in the British competition’s history, said James Corrigan in The Daily Telegraph. Tiger Woods was at the top for a brief period; Rory Mcilroy, Jordan Spieth and Justin Rose all seemed to be in contention. But in the end, they fell behind Francesco Molinari, an “unassuming 35-year-old from Turin”. The first Italian golfer to win a major, he sealed his victory with a “ridiculously clinical” closing stretch. It was one of the most impressive – and “most disciplined” – final rounds the Open has ever hosted. On a day when “the wind played havoc”, Molinari recorded a remarkable 16 pars and two birdies to end the stranglehold that American golfers have had on the majors since April 2017. It was a “deserved victory in every facet”. Molinari has long been one of the finest ball-strikers on the European Tour, said Rick Broadbent in The Times. And having recently made huge improvements to his short game, he arrived at the Open in “the best form of any of the 156 entrants”: in May, he won the BMW PGA Championship; earlier this month, he won the Quicken Loans National. Now, following this victory, he has earned a world ranking of No. 6, the highest of his career. Yet the crowd at Carnoustie were more interested in Woods, said Oliver Brown in The Daily Telegraph. For a spell on Sunday, he “looked poised to complete the greatest comeback since Lazarus”. Over the first nine holes, Woods “played golf from heaven”, said Kevin Mitchell in The Guardian. On the 11th hole, however, he “crashed to earth” with a double bogey, and finished joint sixth, three shots behind Molinari.

Ultimately, age “took its toll on Woods”, said John Hopkins in The Times. His lack of recent competitive experience – he has made the cut at only four majors since 2014 – “counted against him”. But his performance at Carnoustie should still be considered “another step forward”. It’s rare for anyone to have “more than one or two back operations; Woods has had four”. After that, most people would struggle even to hit a golf ball. Yet at the age of 42, Woods can swing his club at nearly 130mph – “as fast if not faster than when he was in his prime”. He is nothing short of a “medical miracle”. Eddie Pepperell overcame a different kind of obstacle, said Riath Al-samarrai in the Daily Mail. Infuriated by his bogeys at the end of the third round, the 27-year-old from Oxfordshire went drinking with his coach on Saturday night. Yet despite playing with a hangover, he shot a “quite brilliant” 67 on Sunday and finished joint sixth. For a golfer who has earned a reputation for being “marvellously unconventional”, it was a “strangely apt” way to deliver his finest major performance.