Quiet Italian deservedly claims first major
Re-reading the sports section of this morning’s Sunday Times I was somewhat remiss in overlooking a short piece on Francesco Molinari under the title “Magical Molinari still in the form of his life”. Perhaps that can be explained by me considering the quiet Italian something of a plodder lacking a level of charisma which one might more normally attribute to the likes of say Jordan Spieth or Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods and Tommy Fleetwood. Yet in the game of golf an equable temperament and being in control of your ball-flight - such that you consistently hit fairways and greens - are attributes to be cherished. And when it comes to hitting fairways and greens there are few better than Francesco Molinari. As 2017 tipped over into 2018 all that he really needed was an improvement in mental approach and a better putting stroke.
For some time now Molinari he has been working with Dave Alred a sports psychologist who turned Rob Andrew and Jonny Wilkinson into dead ball kicking specialists. Later he worked with Luke Donald helping him to reach the World No 1 spot in 2011. Asked about Alred’s influence Molinari described him as the missing piece in the jigsaw “He has pushed me a little bit more and worked on a lot of things mentally on my game and I am very grateful to him”.
Well whatever he did it has certainly worked. In May the 35 year old Italian won the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, out-scoring playing partner Rory McIlroy in the final round. Then, earlier this month, he claimed his first US PGA title when he won the Quicken Loans Classic with a closing 62 that gave him an 8 stroke victory. Suitably buoyed by the confidence gained from such high profile wins and with a swing that is both simple and metronimically repetitive should we be surprised that he has now won his first major championship. Yesterday he shot a bogey free 65 and today a bogey free 69. Thirty six holes without dropping a shot, on the shaggy monster of a course that is Carnoustie and you get a sense of the quality of his achievement.
Of the supporting cast Justin Rose came close yet again but will rue failings over the first two days. Rory too came close but was once again laid low by errant putting and substandard wedge play from 100 yards. Jordan Spieth demonstrated that he’s human with an off colour day particularly with the putter. All of which leaves the mighty Tiger. After a six year spell blighted by injury and tales of a less than savoury nature few were those who ever believed that he would once again challenge for a major title. And yet, for a short period during the afternoon’s proceedings he found himself at -7 leading the 147th Open Championship by a single stroke. In times past Tiger Woods would have strode to victory. But such is the length of time that he has been away from the heat of the kitchen that the moment he took the lead the swing, that up until that point had been so reliable, suddenly deserted him. He began leaking shots into bunkers, albeit still scrambling par, until at the eleventh an errant approach shot resulted in a double bogey 6 and a dent to his challenge. A further dropped shot at twelve put him back amongst the chasing pack from which he never emerged. Has he got the game to win another major? Possibly, although Carnoustie this year was particularly suited to his tactical brilliance. Has he got the mental capacity to do it? His errors at eleven and twelve hint not. Furthermore the young guns are no longer in awe of him a fact that was more than demonstrated by playing partner Molinari. To finish par, par, birdie over Carnoustie’s notorious final holes is golf of the highest order. The quiet Italian had done it.
©Mark Brennand