To say 2024 has not been a great year for Molinari would be an understatement.
To say 2024 has not been a great year for Francesco Molinari would be an understatement.
He’s playing in just his 14th event on the PGA Tour this year but he missed eight cuts in the first 13. His finishes when he did make the cut: T-73, T-54, T-64, T-46, T-59. He was 207th in the FedEx Cup points heading into this week’s stop at Port Royal in Bermuda.
But six birdies in each of the first two days have resulted in scores of 68 and 66 for the Italian at the 2024 Butterfield Bermuda Championship. When he walked off the course Friday morning after his second round, he was tied for third.
All in all, a nice bounce-back week for the 2018 Open Championship winner.
“It was very consistent. I think iron play in general was very good, I gave myself lots of chances,” he said, describing his second round. “Hit a really good 4-iron on 13 I think it is, yeah, the downhill par 3, to about five feet. It was probably the best shot of the day.”
The last time most golf fans saw Molinari, he was acing the final hole of his round at the U.S. Open, an amazing shot that put him on the cutline to play the weekend at Pinehurst.
Final hole. Par 3. Two strokes above the projected cut.
Sepp Straka already had an ace on the ninth hole Friday but Molinari one-upped him.
Sepp Straka had a hole-in-one on the par-3 ninth hole at Pinehurst No. 2 on Friday and that was no doubt cool to see.
But Franceso Molinari one-upped him late in the day.
Playing the back nine first, Molinari stood on the tee box on the ninth hole, which was playing 194 yards, at 7 over. That had him two shots off the projected cutline.
One swing later, and Molinari booked himself a couple of weekend tee times at the 124th U.S. Open.
It was quite a sight, as Molinari hit a high cut left, his ball just barely reaching the green. But then, it started on its path toward the hole and found nothing but jar.
It’s the second ace of the week and the fourth one at No. 9 in U.S. Open history.
His playing partners Sergio Garcia and and Ryo Ishikawa were enjoying the moment, too.
“Yes, we saw it go in. I think from where we were standing, it looked like it just carried the bunker, plus the greens are getting firm, so it was the ideal shot,” Molinari said. “Then it started tracking, was going to break left to right at the hole, and we were joking with Serg and how it looked and on a great line the whole way, but what are the chances really. I don’t even know what to say. Just incredible.”
Having just bogeyed the eighth hole, Molinari’s ace came at the most opportune time.
Peter Jacobsen (2005) and Zach Johnson (2014) also aced the ninth during a U.S. Open. In fact, the ninth the only hole at Pinehurst No. 2 that has surrended an ace during the U.S. Open.
The field of 132 at the Mexico Open was reduced to 65 on Friday night after the cut came in at 2 under.
The field of 132 at the Mexico Open at Vidanta was reduced Friday night after the cut came in at 2 under, and that sent 65 players to Saturday’s third round.
It’s not the most star-studded field on the PGA Tour this season, but there were still some notable names among the 67 who failed to make the weekend at Vidanta Vallarta, a 7,456-yard golf course where Tony Finau – who is tied for ninth – is the defending champion.
Still up for grabs for those playing is the $1,458,000 first-place prize as well as a Masters invite, if one is not already secured by the man who hoists the trophy come Sunday.
The WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale is the PGA Tour’s annual party in the desert.
The fan-favorite event is known for many things, none bigger, however, than the stadium-like stands surrounding the par-3 16th.
It’s madness year in and year out, with fans hoping for the opportunity to throw their beers on the green in celebration of a hole-in-one. The latest to do so was Carlos Ortiz — who has since moved to LIV Golf — in 2022.
Relive some of the iconic moments below.
(Mike Sposa (2002), Steve Stricker (1997), Jay Delsing (1991), Brad Bryant (1990), David Edwards (1990) and Hal Sutton (1988) also made holes-in-one at the 16th at the Phoenix Open, but we were unable to find video footage.)
Francesco Molinari wants to be a member of the European Ryder Cup team this fall.
There’s no sugar-coating it: Francesco Molinari wants to be a member of the European Ryder Cup team this fall.
For the Italian, to represent the European squad on home soil would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and it would mean Molinari had found some form from 5 years ago when he won his only major championship at Carnoustie.
That’s why his start at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at Yas Links in the United Arab Emirates is a confidence boost, though Molinari knows there’s plenty of golf left to be played. He’s tied for the lead with fellow countryman Guido Migliozzi at 10 under after the second round, searching for his first win in four years and a big boost to make it back on the Ryder Cup squad.
“I don’t want to get ahead of myself,” Molinari said. “It’s a couple of good rounds but I know, I’m aware of where I’m coming from. So like I said yesterday, the game feels different. I think it looks different, too. But yeah, it’s just two rounds, so a long way to go.”
The Ryder Cup is scheduled for Sept. 29-Oct. 1 at Marco Simone in Rome.
Molinari’s game dipped following a three-win stretch in 2018-19. At one point, he was ranked as high as fifth in the Official World Golf Ranking. Now, he’s at 166. He didn’t make the European Ryder Cup team in 2021 after playing in three previous editions of the competition.
After consecutive 5-under 67s to begin in Abu Dhabi, he’s in position to get a big boost in making the team. His brother, Edoardo, will be an assistant captain for the Europeans, too.
“I think obviously you don’t need my answer; it would be incredible (to be on the team),” Molinari said. “Yeah, there’s many months to go. It’s obviously nice to start the season this way. I never needed a pick for my three Ryder Cups, so it would be nice not to need a pick again this year.”
Migliozzi shot 3-under 69 on Friday to follow up his stellar opening round of 7-under 65. The pair lead Jason Scrivener by a shot.
There’s something inherently special about a national open, but it comes as no surprise that the attention this week at the 2022 Italian Open is more so focused on the future.
Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome plays host both to this week’s DP World Tour stop, as well as the 2023 Ryder Cup, September 29-October 1. A handful of hopefuls for Luke Donald’s European squad are in the field, including 2022 FedEx Cup champion Rory McIlroy, 2022 U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick, Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton, and local favorite and 2018 Italian Open winner Francesco Molinari.
Unlike at last week’s BMW PGA Championship, there’s a small presence of LIV Golf players in the field this week as most are competing at the series’ fifth event near Chicago, but that certainly didn’t keep McIlroy from fielding yet another question about the upstart circuit led by Greg Norman and backed by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.
“I have said it once I’ve said it a hundred times, I don’t think any of those guys should be on the Ryder Cup team,” McIlroy definitively said during a Wednesday press conference.
Donald is joined in the field by vice captains Thomas Bjorn and Edoardo Molinari, who will undoubtedly be scouting out players for their six selections for the 12-man team that will challenge the United States in a years time. McIlroy even let slip that he, Donald and a few others would meet for dinner Wednesday evening for some team bonding and discussion on how the course could favor the Europeans.
“I think the European Team has a core of six or seven guys that I think we all know are pretty much going to be on that team, and then it’s up to some of the younger guys to maybe step up,” McIlroy said.
“But I think we were in need of a rebuild, anyway. It was sort of, we did well with the same guys for a very long time but again as I just said, everything comes to an end at some point. I think Whistling Straits is a good sort of demarcation, I guess.
“That’s all behind us. We have got a core group of guys but let’s build on that again, and instead of filling those three or four spots with older veterans, let’s blood some rookies and let’s get them in and build towards the future. I think that’s important.”
The United States rolled to victory at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin, 19-9, back in 2021, defeating a European side that featured the likes of Bernd Wiesberger, Paul Casey, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter, all of whom have gone to LIV Golf (Garcia and Poulter were captain’s picks).
Team Europe player Jon Rahm (left) hits his tee shot in front of player Rory McIlroy (right) on the fifth hole during a practice round for the 43rd Ryder Cup golf competition at Whistling Straits. (Photo: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports)
Using the 2021 side to speculate, one can assume the six or seven core players McIlroy referenced are himself, Jon Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood, Hatton, Hovland, Fitzpatrick and Shane Lowry. As for the rookies, the trio of captains will likely have their eyes on the Hojgaard brothers, Nicolai and Rasmus, who are both in this week’s field.
“I think anyone playing well this week will obviously be seen under a different light in a year’s time,” Edoardo Molinari explained. “Obviously still a very long way to go. Everyone will have to play very well to make the team or get a pick.”
“I think it’s very important, at least to have a good first look,” he said of McIlroy and Fitzpatrick playing this week. “I mean, as I said, we are going to make a few little changes but the bulk of the course will be the same, and even just for us to get their opinion on how the course is playing and what they would like to see and what they like to see on a golf course, how they play better in certain conditions or others, I think it’s just a benefit for everyone, and obviously it’s much appreciated that those guys were able to come here and play this event ahead of the Ryder Cup. Hats off to them.”
The top 10 players heading into the final day include six players looking for their first-ever PGA Tour victory.
With one round remaining in the 2022 American Express golf tournament, the leaderboard includes a lot of names that are probably new to even avid golf fans.
That’s okay, and not altogether surprising. Six of the last 15 champions here had never won a PGA event before a victory in the desert.
So with that in mind, here is everything you need to know about the contenders at the top of the leaderboard. There are 10 players at 15-under or better.
Of this group, there is one major champion, one former champion in the desert, three international players, three players playing this event for the first time, and six players looking for their first career PGA Tour win.
Paul Barjon (-18)
Age: 29
From: Born in Bordeaux, France; resides in Fort Worth, Texas
College: TCU
Number of PGA Tour wins: Zero
Best finish at this event: First appearance
Current World Golf Ranking: 313
Notable: With a win, Barjon would be the seventh international winner in the tournament’s 62-year history. It marks the first time the desert’s golf tournament would have back-to-back international winners as Si Woo Kim of South Korea won last year.
Lee Hodges (-18)
Age: 26
From: Born in Huntsville, Alabama, resides in Athens, Alabama
College: UAB and Alabama
Number of PGA Tour wins: Zero
Best finish at this event: First appearance
Current World Golf Ranking: 312
Notable: Hodges is from an athletic family. His cousin, Logan Stenberg, is an offensive lineman in the NFL for the Detroit Lions (as of 2021).
Tom Hoge (-17)
Tom Hoge tees off on hole one during the third round of The American Express at the La Quinta Country Club in La Quinta, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022.
Age: 32
From: North Carolina, but resides in Fargo, North Dakota
College: TCU
Number of PGA Tour wins: Zero
Best finish at this event: Tied for 6th in 2020
Current World Golf Ranking: 115
Notable: For starters, his name is pronounced exactly like the word Hoagie. This is the seventh time Hoge has played here and he missed the cut, four of the previous six, so this effort on these courses is a bit of a surprise.
Seamus Power (-16)
Age: 34
From: Tooraneena, County Waterford, Ireland
College: East Tennessee State
Number of PGA Tour wins: 1 (2021 Barbasol Championship)
Best finish at this event: Tie for 11th in 2018
Current World Golf Ranking: 49
Notable: Power won the Barbasol event last year on the sixth playoff hole over J.T. Poston. In doing so, he became the fifth player from the Republic of Ireland to win a PGA event, joining Pat Doyle, Peter O’Hara, Padraig Harrington, and Shane Lowry.
Lanto Griffin (-15)
Age: 33
From: Born in Mount Shasta, California, resides in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
College: VCU
Number of PGA Tour wins: 1 (2019 Houston Open)
Best finish at this event: Played twice and missed cut both times
Current World Golf Ranking: 117
Notable: Once on the Web.com Tour, Griffin won an event after making the cut on the number, the only time that has ever happened on that tour.
Harry Higgs (-15)
Harry Higgs tees off on the 13th hole of the Pete Dye Stadium Course at PGA West during the American Express in La Quinta, Calif., on Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022.
Age: 30
From: Born in Camden, New Jersey, lives in Dallas, Texas
College: SMU
Number of PGA Tour wins: Zero
Best finish at this event: Played here once (2020) and missed the cut
Current World Golf Ranking: 141
Notable: He’s not nervous when the bright lights are on. Higgs has only played in one major tournament in his career, the 2021 PGA Championship, and he finished tied for fourth.
Hudson Swafford (-15)
Age: 34
From: Born in Tallahassee, Florida; resides in Sea Island, Georgia
College: University of Georgia
Number of PGA Tour wins: Two (2017 CareerBuilder Challenge, 2020 Puerto Rico Championship)
Best finish at this event: Winner in 2017
Current World Golf Ranking: 166
Notable: Hudson Swafford won this event in 2017, notably edging out Adam Hadwin, whose week included a 59 at La Quinta Country Club.
Cameron Young (-15)
Age: 24
From: Born in Scarborough, New York; resides in Jupiter, Florida
College: Wake Forest
Number of PGA Tour wins: Zero
Best finish at this event: First appearance
Current World Golf Ranking: 134
Notable: Cameron Young is the only player currently on the PGA Tour whose last name begins with a Y.
Francesco Molinari (-15)
Francesco Molinari of Italy walks on the 14th hole during the third round of The American Express at the Stadium Course at PGA West on January 22, 2022, in La Quinta, California. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Age: 39
From: Born and lives in Turin, Italy
College: University of Turin
Number of PGA Tour wins: Three (2018 Quicken Loans, 2018 British Open, 2019 Arnold Palmer Invitational)
Best finish at this event: Tied for 10th in 2015
Current World Golf Ranking: 249
Notable: Molinari is one of 13 major champions in the field at The American Express this week. He won the 2018 British Open, outlasting a star-studded group of chasers that included Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, and Xander Schauffele.
Harold Varner III (-15)
Age: 31
From: Born in Akron, Ohio; resides in Charlotte, North Carolina
College: East Carolina
Number of PGA Tour wins: Zero
Best finish at this event: Tied for 18th in 2019
Current World Golf Ranking: 95
Notable: Varner does not have a PGA Tour win, but he does have a win on the European Tour. He won the Australian PGA Championship in 2016.
Several players are still angling to make the PGA Tour postseason. Some are just inside the cutline while others have work to do.
The 50-event “super season” has been a wild ride with six majors, the Olympics and now, one final regular-season event before the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
The Wyndham Championship this week will offer some PGA Tour players one last chance to improve their position or perhaps even make it into the field of 125 in the playoffs.
The three-event series starts at the Northern Trust at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, New Jersey, next week but many in the field at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina, this week will be angling to keep their seasons alive.
Here’s a closer look at some interesting names on the FedEx Cup points standings, some who are inside the field, others who need to make up ground to get in, one who can make the playoffs only by winning this week and one who can’t play his way in because he’s not playing this week.
“I’m trying to find the right words, but I can’t find them,” Molinari wrote on social media.
The teary-eyed emoji was a dead giveaway – even before using Google Translate – that 2018 British Open champion Francesco Molinari was dropping some bad news on social media Sunday afternoon.
The 38-year-old Italian, who was set to represent his country along with Guido Migliozzi in Tokyo, announced via Twitter that he was forced to withdraw from the Olympics due to a back injury.
“I’m trying to find the right words, but I can’t find them,” Molinari wrote. “I have a back problem that has held me back for most of the season and now unfortunately prevents me from representing my country in the most important sporting event in the world.
“I will cheer for all the Italian athletes hoping to be able to participate in the Olympics in the future.”
Molinari missed the cut by one stroke at the British Open at Royal St. George’s in Sandwich, England last week.
In an email to Golfweek, he wrote, “Regarding my back it’s something I struggled with this year at Wells Fargo (in May) for the first time and then forced me to withdraw from Kiawah (PGA Championship) and Memorial. Unfortunately after missing the cut at the Open on waking up Saturday it was sore again.”
Molinari explained that he’s suffering from lower back pain, primarily on the right side, which will prevent him from competing in the men’s competition beginning on July 29. Italy’s Renato Paratore, 24, who won 2020 Betfred British Masters, is listed as Molinari’s replacement on the International Golf Federation web site.
Molinari is out indefinitely but hopes to return to action next month.
“I’m seeing a physiotherapist here in London, going by last time it happened I hope to be fit to play the Wyndham (Championship) and make a last push for a Ryder Cup spot, but I recognize that’s going to be very hard now.”
Molinari partnered with Englishman Tommy Fleetwood (Team Moliwood) and went undefeated in four matches together in France in 2018. The Italian also won his singles match to lead Europe to victory and earn Ryder Cup hero status. Molinari held the lead on the back nine Sunday at the 2019 Masters before a series of blunders. He has since plummeted from No. 6 in the world in July 2019 to No. 146 entering this week.
Two years ago, it was almost unfathomable to think that he wouldn’t make the next team, but his back injury may be the final nail in the coffin for his chances to grab the attention of European team captain Padraig Harrington.
Italy’s Francesco Molinari is a newly-minted member at Riviera CC since moving to L.A. in September.
Francesco Molinari had a hunch a question might be coming. It took eight from the members of the media on a Microsoft Teams call before Molinari was asked about cold-topping his tee shot at the first hole on Saturday of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
“I’m surprised it took so long to hear the question,” he said with a half-hearted laugh and a resigned smile.
As for his explanation of swinging more like his amateur partner in the year the AT&T was played without ams – maybe it was an homage? – Molinari, said, “I don’t know. I think there’s many explanations and none, really. The weather. I was messing around with 3-woods last week so I played with a different 3-wood pretty much every day and probably, you know, went a bit too far with that. But yeah, just a bad swing, bad conditions, probably not my favorite club in the bag and that happened.”
It sent Molinari reeling down the leaderboard, eventually finishing 59th. Despite gifting golf social media with an afternoon of chuckles, Molinari is trending in the right direction. He’s hardly been the same golfer who won the 2018 British Open, earned a 5-0 Ryder Cup record and nearly won the 2019 Masters before a series of back-nine blunders. But Molinari notched back-to-back top-10 finishes at the American Express and Farmers Insurance Open suggest the Italian may be turning the corner.
“My expectations, especially now early in the season are not that high,” he said. “It’s nice to be back, it’s nice to be feeling like I’m getting better and playing some better golf, but I know it’s going to be a long way back.”
That includes for his Ryder Cup chances. It was almost unfathomable to think that Molinari, one of the heroes of Team Europe’s 2018 victory in France, wouldn’t make the next team, but he’s well aware that he’s on the outside looking in and will need to make a serious run to grab the attention of European captain Padraig Harrington.
On the flip side, there’s still time and he’s motivated to climb the mountain again. Molinari isn’t kidding that there’s a long way to get back to his 2018-19 level of play. He’s plummeted from No. 6 in the world in July 2019 to No. 107 entering this week. After having one arm in a green jacket at the 2019 Masters, he failed to record a top-10 finish until Palm Springs, a span of 19 events, and noted that the cancellation of golf tournaments for three months due to the pandemic came at a good time for him.
Molinari was the last PGA Tour regular to return to competition, skipping the PGA Championship and U.S. Open and moving his his family from its London home base of more than 12 years to Los Angeles. Molinari said that wife Valentino and their two children – Tommaso, 9, and Emma, 5 – love their new home and are adjusting to their new surrounds. As for the manga?
“The Italian food is not too bad,” he said. “Yeah, there’s some pretty good spots.”
There are some pretty good golf courses, too, and when Molinari asked around for recommendations he noticed a common theme – the home of the Genesis Invitational kept popping up.
“Pretty much everyone I asked advised Riviera was going to be the best solution,” he said. “So, I got the ball rolling and the club has been kind enough to have me join. It’s been great. I’ve played a lot of rounds since then, obviously met a few members, played a few games with them. And we live literally five, six minutes away, so it’s a very easy commute for me.”
Molinari is set to make his seventh career start at the Genesis Invitational. All those rounds plotting the best route to play famed George C. Thomas layout and learning the intricacies of its Kikuyu rough, should mean something, right?
“We’ll find out soon enough,” he said. “Yeah, it’s a tournament I’ve always loved, but unfortunately I never really played that well in the past. …Hopefully the rounds that I’ve played this winter I can have more success around here.”
