Francesco Molinari

Francesco Molinari
— Golfer —
Personal information
Full name Francesco Molinari
Born (1982-11-08) 8 November 1982
Turin, Italy
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight 72 kg (159 lb; 11.3 st)
Nationality  Italy
Residence Turin, Italy
Spouse Valentina (m. 2007)
Children Tommaso, Emma
Career
College University of Turin
Turned professional 2004
Current tour(s) European Tour
PGA Tour
Professional wins 6
Number of wins by tour
European Tour 4
Other 2
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament T19: 2012
U.S. Open T23: 2014
The Open Championship T9: 2013
PGA Championship T10: 2009

Francesco Molinari (born 8 November 1982) is an Italian professional golfer. He is a four-time winner on the European Tour, with one of those wins being the WGC-HSBC Champions in 2010.

Background and amateur career

Molinari was born in Turin, Italy, and is the younger brother of Edoardo Molinari. As an amateur, he won the Italian Amateur Stroke Play Championship twice, and the Italian Match Play Championship in 2004. He turned professional later that year.

Professional career

Molinari earned his European Tour card for 2005 through qualifying school. He finished in 86th place on the tour's Order of Merit in his rookie season.

In May 2006, Molinari claimed his first European Tour victory, becoming the first Italian since Massimo Mannelli in 1980 to win the Telecom Italia Open.[1] This victory helped him finish 38th on the Order of Merit. Molinari didn't win on Tour between 2007 and 2009 but during that time he recorded twenty top-10 finishes including three runner-up finishes. He finished 60th on the Order of Merit in 2007, 24th in 2008 and 14th in the Race to Dubai in 2009. In October 2009, Molinari reached the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time.

On 29 November 2009, Molinari, along with his older brother Edoardo, led Italy to their first World Cup victory at the Omega Mission Hills World Cup in China.[2]

2010 was Molinari's best year on Tour to date. On 7 November 2010, Molinari won the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, China. He defeated Lee Westwood by one stroke, finishing at 19-under par.[3] The win moved him into 14th in the Official World Golf Ranking, his highest ranking to date. He also recorded eleven top-10 finishes including two runner-up finishes en route to a 5th-place finish in the Race to Dubai.

In October 2010, he represented Europe in the 2010 Ryder Cup which took place at Celtic Manor Resort, teaming up with his brother Edoardo in the four-balls (halved against Stuart Cink and Matt Kuchar) and foursomes (lost against Zach Johnson and Hunter Mahan). He then lost the singles match by 4 and 3 against Tiger Woods on the final day. Europe defeated the United States 14½–13½.

Molinari had a steady 2011 without any further victories but did record seven top-10 finishes, including a 3rd place at the WGC-Cadillac Championship. He finished the year ranked 21st in the Race to Dubai.

Molinari picked up his third win on the European Tour on 6 May 2012 at the Reale Seguros Open de España. He was four strokes out of the lead going into the final round but fired a 65 (–7), the best round of the tournament, to win by three strokes over Alejandro Cañizares, Søren Kjeldsen and Pablo Larrazábal.[4] In July 2012, the week before the The Open Championship, Molinari lost in a playoff at the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open. He was defeated on the first playoff hole by Jeev Milkha Singh.

Molinari gained an automatic selection for the 2012 Ryder Cup, where he played the foursomes with Lee Westwood on Friday, losing by 3 and 2 to Jason Dufner and Zach Johnson; he then teamed up in the four-balls with Justin Rose, losing by 5 and 4 against Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson. On the final day, he halved with Tiger Woods the last singles match. The half-point meant Europe not only completed a comeback from 10–6 down at the start of the final day to retain the cup, but won it outright by a score of 14½ points to 13½.[5]

During the 2013 and 2014 seasons Molinari didn't register any win, but his steady position in the top fifty of the OWGR ranking allowed him to play several PGA Tour events as a non-member, where he reached three top ten finishes; among these the most prestigious result was the 6th place at the 2014 Players Championship. These results allowed him to earn a full PGA Tour card for the 2014–15 season.

In 2015 and 2016 Molinari shared his time between the European Tour and PGA Tour. In September 2016 he became the first Italian to win his national open twice with a 1 shot victory over Danny Willett at the 2016 Italian Open. Other notable results in Europe were the 2nd places collected at the 2015 Open de España and 2016 Open de France, while in the US he collected a 3rd place at the 2015 Memorial Tournament. In the same year he also recorded a hole in one in the iconic 16th hole of the Waste Management Phoenix Open.[6]

Personal life

Molinari stated that he is a fan of English football team West Ham United after Italian football manager Gianfranco Zola started managing the East London side in 2008.[7] Molinari's coach, Denis Pugh, also supports West Ham.

Amateur wins (5)

Professional wins (6)

European Tour wins (4)

Legend
World Golf Championships (1)
Other European Tour (3)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner(s) up
1 7 May 2006 Telecom Italia Open –23 (68-65-67-65=265) 4 strokes Denmark Anders Hansen, Sweden Jarmo Sandelin
2 7 Nov 2010 WGC-HSBC Champions –19 (65-70-67-67=269) 1 stroke England Lee Westwood
3 6 May 2012 Reale Seguros Open de España –8 (70-71-74-65=280) 3 strokes Spain Alejandro Cañizares, Denmark Søren Kjeldsen,
Spain Pablo Larrazábal
4 18 Sep 2016 Italian Open (2) –22 (65-68-64-65=262) 1 stroke England Danny Willett

European Tour playoff record (0–3)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
1 2008 UBS Hong Kong Open Taiwan Lin Wen-tang, Northern Ireland Rory McIlroy Lin won with birdie on second extra hole
Molinari eliminated with par on first hole
2 2010 Alstom Open de France Spain Alejandro Cañizares, Spain Miguel Ángel Jiménez Jimenez won with par on first extra hole
3 2012 Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open India Jeev Milkha Singh Lost to birdie on first extra hole

Other wins (2)

Results in major championships

Tournament 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Masters Tournament DNP DNP DNP T30 CUT T19 CUT 50 DNP DNP
U.S. Open DNP DNP T27 CUT CUT T29 CUT T23 T27 DNP
The Open Championship CUT DNP T13 CUT CUT T39 T9 T15 T40 T36
PGA Championship DNP DNP T10 T33 T34 T54 T33 T58 T54 T22

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 3
U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 0 1 7 4
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 1 3 9 6
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 1 2 8 8
Totals 0 0 0 0 2 7 29 21

World Golf Championships

Wins (1)

YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMargin of victoryRunner-up
2010 WGC-HSBC Champions 1 shot lead –19 (65-70-67-67=269) 1 stroke England Lee Westwood

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order prior to 2015.

Tournament20092010201120122013201420152016
Cadillac Championship DNP T14 T3 T13 T28 T25 DNP DNP
Cadillac Match Play Championship DNP R64 R64 R32 R64 R64 T34 DNP
Bridgestone Invitational DNP T39 T15 T40 T44 T31 T61 DNP
HSBC Champions T10 1 T23 T39 T21 DNP DNP T6

DNP = Did not play
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

PGA Tour career summary

Season Starts Cuts
made 		Wins 2nd 3rd Top
10 		Top
25 		Earnings
($) 		Money
list rank
2007 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a
2008 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a
2009 4 4 0 0 0 1 2 304,368 n/a
2010 8 6 0 0 0 1 2 358,196 n/a
2011 11 6 0 0 1 1 3 158,387 n/a
2012 8 7 0 0 0 0 3 198,961 n/a
2013 9 6 0 0 0 1 1 245,463 n/a
2014 12 12 0 0 0 2 7 847,974 n/a
2015 16 13 0 0 1 2 5 997,389 103
2016 18 14 0 0 0 3 5 1,083,155 98
Career* 87 68 0 0 2 11 28 4,193,893 302[8]

*As of the 2015–16 season.[9]
^ Molinari became member of the PGA Tour in 2015, so he is not included in the money list before

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

Ryder Cup points record

2010 2012 Total
0.5 0.5 1

References

  1. ↑ "Molinari ends wait for home win". BBC Sport. 7 May 2006. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  2. ↑ "Italy edge Ireland to win World Cup of Golf in China". BBC Sport. 29 November 2009. Retrieved 30 November 2009.
  3. ↑ "Francesco Molinari holds his nerve to see off Lee Westwood in China". The Guardian. 7 November 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
  4. ↑ "Magic Final Round Secures Title for Molinari". European Tour. 6 May 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
  5. ↑ "Europe seal Ryder Cup win with comeback of epic proportions". Guardian UK. 1 October 2012. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  6. ↑ "Francesco Molinari's hole-in-one on No. 16 at Waste Management". January 31, 2015. Retrieved September 17, 2016.
  7. ↑ http://www.whufc.com/articles/20140612/hammer-francesco-eyes-open-glory_2236884_3900253
  8. ↑ "Career Money Leaders". PGA Tour. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  9. ↑ "Francesco Molinari – Career Results". PGA Tour. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
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