The 147th Open Championship was played at Carnoustie Golf Links, a course that is appropriately named “Car-nasty” due to its difficult playing conditions. However, this past Sunday, despite wild and windy conditions, 35 year old Francesco Molinari conquered this golf course to become the first Italian to win a major championship.
Although Francesco Molinari may not be a household name to the casual golf fan, his game has been trending in the right direction in the past few weeks. In Francesco’s last six worldwide starts, he has won three times, including the 2018 Quicken Loans National. His strong play of late would yield a bogey-free 2-under 69 final round at the Open Championship and carried him to a two-shot victory.
Like most major championships, the victory was hardly stress free and there were plenty of drama as many players would make a charge. Among them were Rory McIlroy, who made a 55 foot eagle putt on the 14th hole to jump up the leaderboard, Justin Rose and Tiger Woods. But Molinari outlasted the rest of the field to become Champion Golfer of the Year. This victory has vaulted his Official World Golf Rankings to number 6 in the world, setting a new career high.
Source: The Open
