Italy’s footballers may have let down their country earlier this summer by failing to qualify for the World Cup, but thankfully the nation has a new sporting champion to celebrate following the stunning victory of Francesco Molinari in the Open Championship.
The 35-year-old from Turin was crowned the Champion Golfer of 2018 after he steered a steady course through a wild final afternoon of nail-biting tension at Carnoustie to become the first Italian major champion.
With a stiff breeze causing havoc at the top of the leaderboard, the experienced Molinari produced a flawless two-under-par 69 to claim a memorable two-stroke victory. He ended the tournament with an eight-under-par total of 276 – the lowest combined score in the eight Opens held at the Angus links venue.
Overnight leaders Xander Schauffele and Kevin Kisner ended two shots back in four-way tie for second place with Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy, with the latter perhaps having the most cause to rue another major that got away.
Huge crowds descended on the seaside links to witness the denouement – 172,000 in total for the week – and the majority were willing Woods to claim a fairytale 15th major a decade after his last one. But it was the American’s playing partner Molinari who wrote his own script to claim his major breakthrough at the 36th attempt.
With defending champion Jordan Spieth, Woods, Rose and Tommy Fleetwood and McIlroy in the Sunday mix, Molinari was, as ever, almost overlooked as the leading groups went out. Yet his recent form – two wins and two runners-up finishes in his last five tournaments – should have served as a warning on a day when a steady hand was needed to bring the ship safely into harbour.
While Spieth, Schauffele and Kisner endured a rollercoaster ride across the scorched links, Molinari calmly chalked up 13 consecutive pars before making his move, as many others did, at the par-five 14th. He rolled in a birdie there to move into the lead on seven-under.
With Rose and McIlroy in the clubhouse on six-under, Schauffele fought back from a outward nine of 40 to get to seven-under by the time he reached the 15th, but Molinari was not to be denied. Carnoustie’s 18th hole has witnessed its fair share of horror shows, but Molinari safely negotiated the snaking Barry Burn with his tee shot before planting his second shot to six feet to huge cheers from the galleries. And while playing partner Woods missed his 10-footer which would have moved him into a tie for second, Molinari walked calmly up to his putt and stroked it into the cup, and allowed himself a punch of the air, as the tension finally drained from his body.
The most anxious he looked all day was sitting in the recorder’s hut watching Schauffele play the last two holes, and when the young American’s par putt stayed out on the 17th, Molinari allowed himself the smallest of smiles knowing only an eagle at the last could deny him a piece of sporting history. And the moment Schauffele’s approach stopped short on the 18th green the celebrations could start.
“It is absolutely amazing,” said Molinari, who went without a bogey from the 17th hole of his second round on Friday. “The course bit me a few times the first couple of days, but then to go bogey-free over the weekend on a course like this is incredible. For the first time I felt like I was ready for it. Playing with Tiger makes it even more special. I couldn’t have written it any better.”
Molinari broke a sequence of five majors won by Americans and for a while Woods looked like making it six. In his trademark red shirt the 42-year-old looked in complete control as he birdied the fourth and sixth holes. He reached the turn in 34 strokes, and with Spieth and Schauffele imploding a few holes back Woods was suddenly clear at the top of the leaderboard on seven-under.
A miss-hit flop shot at the 11th ended cost him a double-bogey that stopped him in his tracks, and although he birdied the 14th to stay in the hunt, he fell just short, finishing in a tie for sixth on five-under.
Spieth’s hopes of emulating Woods by winning the Claret Jug for a second successive year withered away as he slumped to a final-round 76 on a desperately hard scoring day. He had looked in control as he began with four pars, but a bogey at the fifth seemed to unsettle him, and the wheels fell off when a trip to a gorse bush ended with a double-bogey at the sixth, Hogan’s Alley.
McIlroy had struggled to make any headway, with his putting letting him down once again, but when he eagled the 14th he rocketed to the top of the leaderboard, and looked like stealing one against the head, but Carnoustie’s brutal closing stretch proved too much to close the gap, and he will have to hope that the Open’s return to Northern Ireland next year will bring him better luck, as his search for a fifth major title continues.
Further down the leaderboard, Eddie Pepperell shot a 67 – the lowest round of the final day – to earn his best finish at a major alongside Woods, while great English hope Tommy Fleetwood, moved to six under with a birdie on the first, only to drop four shots in three holes before the turn and end up three under for the tournament with a two-over 73.