Francesco Molinari (born 8 November 1982) is an Italian professional golfer. He won the 2018 Open Championship, his first and only major victory, and the first major won by an Italian professional golfer. The Open Championship win capped a successful season in which he won the 2018 BMW PGA Championship, his fifth win on the European Tour, and the Quicken Loans National, his first PGA Tour win. At the end of the season, Molinari won 5 out of 5 points as Europe won the 2018 Ryder Cup.
In 2019, Molinari won the Arnold Palmer Invitational for the third PGA Tour victory of his career. Playing with his brother Edoardo, they won the 2009 Omega Mission Hills World Cup, Italy's only win in the event. Molinari won the 2010 WGC-HSBC Champions and has represented Europe in three winning Ryder Cup teams, in 2010, 2012 and 2018. Molinari was in the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking continuously from November 2008 to November 2020.
Early life and amateur career Molinari was born on 8 November 1982 in Turin, Italy. He 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. Molinari turned professional later that year. Molinari graduated from the University of Turin with a degree in economics.
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. This victory helped him finish 38th on the Order of Merit. He did not 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.
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. The win moved him into 14th in the Official World Golf Ranking, his highest ranking for eight years. 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, Molinari 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, 14–13. 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. In July 2012, the week before 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 in the last singles match. The point meant Europe not only completed a comeback from 10–6 down at the start of the final day to retain the cup, but also won it outright by a score of 14 points to 13. During the 2013 and 2014 seasons Molinari did not register a tournament win, but his steady position in the top fifty of the OWGR 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 the 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 U.S., he collected a 3rd place at the 2015 Memorial Tournament. In the same year he also recorded a hole in one at the iconic 16th hole of the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
Molinari recorded his fifth European Tour win and first Rolex Series title in May 2018, with victory in the European Tour's flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship. He produced a flawless final round to see off Rory McIlroy by two strokes. The win took Molinari level with Costantino Rocca for most European Tour wins by an Italian. In the same year, Molinari won the Quicken Loans National in a dominating fashion by shooting a 62 on Sunday to win by eight strokes, the first PGA Tour win for an Italian since 1947. At the 2018 Open Championship, Molinari won the tournament with a score of −8, pairing with Tiger Woods in the final round. The win at the Open Championship moved him to sixth place in the Official World Golf Ranking, the highest ranking of his career to date.
In September 2018, Molinari qualified for the European team participating in the 2018 Ryder Cup. Europe defeated the U.S. team 17 to 10. Molinari became the first player ever to go 5–0–0. He paired with Tommy Fleetwood to win all four fourball and foursome matches. He also won his singles match against Phil Mickelson. On 18 November 2018, Molinari won the season-long Race to Dubai title on the European Tour. The victory was worth $1,250,000.
On 10 March 2019, Molinari won the Arnold Palmer Invitational for the third PGA Tour victory of his career. He teed off 10 groups ahead of the leaders on the final day and 5 strokes behind, making three birdies and no bogeys on his first seven holes. On the 8th hole, from well off the green, he holed a chip for another birdie and made the turn in 32 (−4). He made four more birdies on the back nine, including a 43-foot putt at the 72nd hole, to shoot a final-round 64 that ended up giving him a two-stroke win over Matt Fitzpatrick, who shot a final-round 71. In April 2019, Molinari was the 54-hole leader at the Masters at 13 under, two strokes clear of Tony Finau and Tiger Woods, after a six-under-par 66 in the third round. Molinari held the lead for two-thirds of the final round until he reached the par-3 12th, where his tee shot found the water, resulting in a double bogey. He found the water again on the 15th, which led to another double bogey to fall out of contention. He finished with a round of 74 and T5 finish, is still his best performance at the Masters to date.
Molinari has worked since 2018 with Dave Alred on several mental aspects of his game. Molinari is an ambassador for Borne, a medical research charity looking to identify the causes of premature birth.
Personal life Molinari is a fan of Italian football team Internazionale. He also supports West Ham United after Italian football manager Gianfranco Zola started managing the east London side in 2008.
Awards and honours In 2018, Molinari earned the season-long Race to Dubai title for the European Tour. He also won the European Tour Golfer of the Year award, as well as the European Tour Players' Player of the Year. During the same year, Molinari received the Golden Collar of Sports Merit and the BBC World Sport Star of the Year award, which was formerly known as the BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year award. He was the first Italian to receive this prize.
Amateur wins 2002 Italian Amateur Stroke Play Championship, Italian Amateur Foursomes Championship (with Edoardo Molinari) 2004 Italian Amateur Stroke Play Championship, Italian Match Play Championship, Sherry Cup
Professional wins (10) PGA Tour wins (3) LegendMajor championships (1)Other PGA Tour (2) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo par Margin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up11 Jul 2018Quicken Loans National67-65-65-62=259−218 strokes Ryan Armour222 Jul 2018The Open Championship70-72-65-69=276−82 strokes Kevin Kisner, Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Xander Schauffele310 Mar 2019Arnold Palmer Invitational69-70-73-64=276−122 strokes Matt Fitzpatrick
European Tour wins (6) Legend Major championships (1)World Golf Championships (1) Flagship events (1) Rolex Series (1)Other European Tour (3) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up17 May 2006 Telecom Italia Open68-65-67-65=265−234 strokes Anders Hansen, Jarmo Sandelin27 Nov 2010WGC-HSBC Champions65-70-67-67=269−191 stroke Lee Westwood36 May 2012Reale Seguros Open de España 70-71-74-65=280−83 strokes Alejandro Cañizares, Søren Kjeldsen, Pablo Larrazábal418 Sep 2016Italian Open (2)65-68-64-65=262−221 stroke Danny Willett 527 May 2018BMW PGA Championship70-67-66-68=271−172 strokes Rory McIlroy622 Jul 2018The Open Championship70-72-65-69=276−82 strokes Kevin Kisner, Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Xander Schauffele
European Tour playoff record (0–3) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result12008UBS Hong Kong Open Lin Wen-tang, Rory McIlroyLin won with birdie on second extra holeMolinari eliminated by birdie on first hole22010Alstom Open de France Alejandro Cañizares, Miguel Ángel JiménezJiménez won with par on first extra hole32012Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open Jeev Milkha SinghLost to birdie on first extra hole
Other wins (2) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunners-up110 Apr 2009Italian PGA Championship70-65-67-70=272−166 strokes Gregory Molteni, Andrea Perrino, Michele Reale229 Nov 2009Omega Mission Hills World Cup(with Edoardo Molinari)64-66-61-68=259−291 stroke − Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy, − Robert Karlsson and Henrik Stenson
Major championships Wins (1) YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunners-up 2018 The Open Championship 3 shot deficit −8 (70-72-65-69=276) 2 strokes Kevin Kisner, Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Xander Schauffele
Results timeline Tournament 2007 2008 2009Masters TournamentU.S. OpenT27The Open ChampionshipCUTT13PGA ChampionshipT10 Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018Masters TournamentT30CUTT19CUT50T33T20U.S. OpenCUTCUTT29CUTT23T27CUTT25The Open ChampionshipCUTCUTT39T9T15T40T36CUT1PGA ChampionshipT33T34T54T33T58T54T22T2T6 Tournament20192020202120222023202420252026Masters TournamentT5CUT52CUTCUTPGA ChampionshipT48T55CUTCUTU.S. OpenT16T13CUTCUTT64The Open ChampionshipT11NTCUTT15CUTCUTT63T46
CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" = tied NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
Summary Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts madeMasters Tournament 0 0 0 1 1 3 12 7PGA Championship 0 1 0 1 3 4 14 12U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 0 4 14 8The Open Championship 1 0 0 1 2 6 18 11Totals 1 1 0 3 6 17 58 38 Most consecutive cuts made – 12 (2013 Open – 2017 Masters) Longest streak of top-10s – 3 (2018 Open – 2019 Masters)
Results in The Players Championship Tournament2010201120122013201420152016201720182019The Players Championship9CUTCUTCUTT6T7T6CUTT56 Tournament20202021202220232024The Players ChampionshipCCUTT42T60T54
CUT = missed the halfway cut "T" indicates a tie for a place C = Cancelled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic
World Golf Championships Wins (1)