Francesco Molinari

Molinari claimed his first major title at the 2018 Open Championship at Carnoustie with an eight-under 276 total. He won by two shots over four players to become the first Italian to win a major championship. The victory was his second PGA Tour title in 123 starts and his sixth European Tour title in 253 starts at age 35 years, 8 months, 14 days. He entered the final round three shots off the lead and playing with Tiger Woods in the third-to-last pairing. After 13 straight pars, he took the solo lead with a birdie at the 14th hole, one shot ahead of six players at 6-under, including Justin Rose, the clubhouse leader. He added a second birdie at the 18th hole, making a five-foot putt to shoot the only bogey-free final round of 69. A third-round, 6-under 65 marked his career-low in his previous 122 rounds in major championships (he was competing in his 36th career major). He played the final 37 holes without a bogey, the only player in the field with two bogey-free rounds. With 17 birdies for the week, he was tied for most with Brooks Koepka and Cameron Davis.
Francesco began swinging a club at age 5. Golf was a family passion, as his parents and grandparents were single-digit handicappers. He couldn't play at his parents' golf club in Torino until he turned 8, so his family would take him and his older brother Edoardo to the ski town Sestriere which had an 18-hole course they could play. By the time Francesco was 12, he had a 12 handicap. By 16, he was a scratch player. His parents were strict that education came first, so Francesco got a degree in economics and Edoardo in engineering. Francesco wrote his thesis on the business side of the European Tour and its various divisions.
Molinari won the Sherry Cup, the Italian Amateur Stroke Play Championship twice, and the Italian Match Play Championship in 2004. He reached the semifinals at the 2003 British Amateur at Royal Troon, losing to Gary Wolstenholme with Edoardo as his caddie. Francesco turned professional in the fall of 2004.
He earned his European Tour card for 2005 through qualifying school. He finished 86th on the tour's Order of Merit in his rookie season.
Francesco upstaged the exploits of his older brother, Edoardo Molinari, at Castello di Tolcinasco G. & C.C. in Milan in May 2006, just nine months after Edoardo became the first Italian winner of the U.S. Amateur Championship at Merion Golf Club. Francesco thrilled the Milanese crowds by capturing the Telecom Italian Open, where he became the first Italian player to win the event since Massimo Mannelli 26 years earlier. The victory helped him finish 38th on the Order of Merit. Molinari didn't win on tour between 2007-09, but during that time, he recorded 20 top-10 finishes, including three runner-up results. He finished 60th on the Order of Merit in 2007, 24th in 2008, and 14th in the 2009 Race to Dubai. In October 2009, Molinari reached the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time.
At the end of 2009, Molinari and Edoardo led Italy to its first World Cup victory at the Omega Mission Hills World Cup in China.
He enjoys snowboarding, playing football, and supporting the Inter Milan team.
2010 Notes: Molinari was a European Ryder Cup team member for the first time, winning his singles match against Tiger Woods to help Europe to a thrilling 14-and-a-half to 13-and-a-half victory. He ended 2010 on a high note by winning the WGC-HSBC Champions, edging Lee Westwood by a shot. He finished the year T-6th at the DP World Tour Championship. He recorded 11 top-10 finishes, including two runner-up results, en route to a 5th-place finish in the Race to Dubai.
2011 Notes: His only top-10 finish on the PGA Tour was a T-3rd at the WGC-Cadillac Championship, set up in large part with matching four-under 68s in the opening two rounds. He eventually finished three shots behind Nick Watney. In the Race to Dubai, he finished 21st.
2012 Notes: Another year with a victory, this time at Reale Seguros Open de Espana. He also finished runner-up at the Alstom Open de France and the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open in consecutive weeks, shooting a final-round 64 in the former and losing to Jeev Milkha Singh in a playoff. Started the year 39th on the Official World Golf Ranking and ended the year 30th. He finished the year 8th in the Race to Dubai. His record was 0-2-1 in his second Ryder Cup appearance, but he earned a key half-point in the final singles match against Tiger Woods to clinch Europe's victory.
2013 Notes: Had five top-10s in Europe, the best a T-2nd at the BMW Masters. He was T-5th in the Volvo World Match Play Championship, losing to Thomas Aiken in the quarterfinals. Finished T-9th at the Volvo Golf Championship, the BMW PGA Championship, and the British Open. Finished 13th in the Race to Dubai standings.
2014 Notes: One of the most consistent performers on the European Tour, he finished 35th in the Race to Dubai and for the seventh consecutive year, placed in the top-35. Had two top-10s in 25 starts on the European Tour: 4th at the Volvo China Open and T-7th at the BMW PGA Championship. They also played on the PGA Tour and had top-10s at the Arnold Palmer Invitational (T-5th) and The Players Championship (T-6th). Made the cut in all 12 starts on the PGA Tour as a non-member and got into the top-125 to earn a PGA Tour card for 2015.
2015 Notes: Played 14 European events, making 14 cuts. Played 16 PGA Tour events and made the cut in 13 of them. He started the year with a T-6th finish at the Alfred Dunhill Championship. He added top-10s at the Humana Challenge (T-10th), Open de Espana (T-2nd), BMW PGA Championship (5th), Memorial (T-3rd), and the Alstom Open de France (T-6th). He finished 32nd in the Race to Dubai and 111th in the FedExCup standings.
2016 Notes: First top-10 was a T-9th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and he earned another, a T-7th at The Players Championship. He also finished T-8th at the Quicken Loans National and was runner-up at the French Open, four shots behind winner Thongchai Jaidee. He closed out his PGA Tour season by missing the cut in his first start at a FedExCup playoff event, The Barclays. Was 111th in the FedExCup and 98th on the money list. He returned to the European Tour, where he had only played in two full-fledged European events. He became a hometown hero at the Italian Open, shooting a final round 65 to defeat Danny Willett by one shot. He became the first Italian to win his national Open twice (also won in 2006) since it became part of the European Tour in 1972. He finished T-6th at the WGC-HSBC Champions and closed out his European Tour year with a T-4th at the DP World Tour Dubai. He ended the year 19th in the Race to Dubai. He finished T-6th at the ISPS Handa World Cup with teammate Matteo Manassero on Italy's team at Kingston Heath Golf Club in Australia in late November.
2017 Notes: Finished T-4th at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, where he advanced 40 spots on the leaderboard with a final-round 61, his best score on the PGA Tour. Starting at the CareerBuilder Challenge, he put together a run in which he placed in the top 20 in five of his next six starts. Best finish was T-7th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He finished T-6th at The Players Championship and 2nd at the BMW PGA Championship. A bit unlucky at Wentworth, he finished two shots behind winner Alex Noren, who shot a final-round 62. Had his first top-5 in a major with a T-2nd finish at the PGA Championship. Molinari shot 67 in the final round to finish two strokes behind winner Justin Thomas. He was T-6th at the Italian Open and finished 9th in the Race to Dubai.
2018 Notes: Played 12 European events, making 12 cuts with four top-10 finishes. Finished 1st in the Race to Dubai. Played 20 PGA Tour events and made 217 cuts with five top-10 finishes. He was 17th in the FedExCup standings. Took 8th place at the unofficial Hero World Challenge. He won the BMW PGA Championship by two strokes over Rory McIlroy. The next week, he was 2nd at the Italian Open, a stroke behind winner Thorbjorn Olesen. After finishing T-25th at the U.S. Open, he won the Quicken Loans National by eight shots over Ryan Armour. The win was his first career PGA Tour victory, and he became the first Italian to win on Tour since Toney Penna captured the title at the 1947 Atlanta Open. Molinari took a bit of a gamble playing in Washington instead of playing on the European Tour at the French Open. He said the French Open is one of his favorite European Tour events and a tournament that could have helped his Ryder Cup status. He chose to play in Washington instead because, at the time, he was 123rd in the FedExCup standings and needed to secure a spot in the playoffs at season's end. The strategy paid off as he moved up 81 spots to 42nd in the FedExCup standings, but he wasn't finished. He had a T-2nd result at the John Deere Classic, then won the British Open for his third win in his last six worldwide starts. With the victory, he advanced to 6th in the world ranking, the first Italian to get into the top 10, and climbed to 7th in the FedExCup standings. In his 31 starts between the 2017 BMW PGA Championship and the 2018 British Open, he won three times and had four runner-up finishes. Was T-6th at the PGA Championship and T-8th at the BMW Championship. He returned to the Ryder Cup for a third time (he didn't play on the team in 2014 or '16) and went 5-0-0. He became the first player in history to win five points in the Ryder Cup and win a major in the same year. Molinari and teammate Tommy Fleetwood played together in four matches and won all four. Molinari won his singles match against Phil Mickelson 4 & 2 to cap off his historic Ryder Cup performance.
2019 Notes: Played in 15 PGA Tour events, making 14 cuts with three top-10 finishes. He was 40th in the FedExCup standings. He played in 11 European Tour events, making 10 cuts with two top-10 finishes. He was 30th in the Race to Dubai. Took time off between the DP World Dubai in November and the WGC-Mexico Championship at the end of February. He only played once, finishing T-27th at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. I was planning on playing at the Genesis but had the flu. Returned at the WGC-Mexico Championship, finishing T-17th, and won the Arnold Palmer Invitational. His final-round 64 included a 43-foot birdie putt at the 72nd hole to win by two strokes over Matthew Fitzpatrick. He teed off early and finished his final round 100 minutes before play concluded. He made it to the semifinals of the WGC-Dell Match Play but was defeated by eventual champion Kevin Kisner. Finished 3rd by defeating Lucas Bjerregaard, 4 & 2, in the consolation match. Went undefeated in group play. He beat Paul Casey, 5 & 4, in the fourth round and Kevin Na, 6 & 5, to advance to the semifinals. At the Masters, Molinari shared the 36-hole lead and held the 54-hole lead by two shots. But after double bogeys at 12 and 15, he shot 74 and finished T-5th, two strokes behind winner Tiger Woods. In defense of his British Open title, he shot 66 in the final round to finish T-11th. In the FedEx Cup Playoffs, he was 82nd in the Northern Trust and T-61st in the BMW Championship. He ended his year with a T-40th finish at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.
2020 Notes: Played in six PGA Tour events, making three cuts with two top-25 finishes. Did not play in Europe in 2020. Was T-22nd in the WGC-HSBC Champions. From the start of the calendar year 2020 through the end of the FedExCup season, only played four events and played four rounds in only one start, T-53rd at the WGC-Mexico Championship. Did not make a start on the PGA Tour after the suspension of the season due to COVID-19 in March. He finished 193rd in the FedExCup standings and failed to qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs for the first time in his sixth season as a member. During the global health crisis, Molinari went ahead with his family's move from London to California. Along with the move, he decided to take some time off and work out a few things with his family. The family first moved to San Francisco in July and were in the city during the PGA Championship in August. While Collin Morikawa was winning the major, Francesco was at the zoo with his kids a couple of miles away. The family decided to move to Los Angeles in the Brentwood neighborhood just after that.
2021 Notes: Played in 15 PGA Tour events, making seven cuts with three top-10 finishes. He was 142nd in the FedExCup standings. He played in seven European Tour events, making five cuts, he was 135th in the Race to Dubai. He opened his season by missing the cut at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Before that event, he told the media in Las Vegas that he played as little golf as he had ever played in his life. "Mentally, I'm definitely in a very different spot than I was in February or March. I wasn't in a great place with my game back then, and I was low in confidence, but it was probably in a way, a good time for me to take a step away from the game." At the Vivint Houston Open shot 66 in the final round to finish T-15th. It was his first top-15 finish since he was T-14th in the 2019 BMW PGA Championship almost 15 months before. He missed the cut at the November Masters but was T-8th at the American Express, his first top-ten since finishing T-5th in the 2019 Masters. Shot a final-round 66 to finish T-10th at the Farmers Insurance Open. He closed with a 67 to finish T-8th at The Genesis Invitational at Riviera, where he is now a member. He was T-13th at the U.S. Open, six shots back of winner Jon Rahm. He ended his European Tour season with a T-35th at the BMW PGA Championship.
2022 Notes: Played in 17 PGA Tour events, making ten cuts with one top-10 finish. He was 148th in the FedExCup standings. He played in eight DP World Tour events, making five cuts with one top-ten finish, he was 127th in the Race to Dubai. Finished T-6th at The American Express, six shots back of winner Hudson Swafford. He was T-15th in the British Open. He was T-9th in the BMW Championship and finished his season with a T-28th finish at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
2023 Notes: Was T-5th at the Abu Dhabi Championship, four shots back of winner Victor Perez. He was T-14th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.