Francesco Molinari

He finished the year ranked 21st in the Race to Dubai.

This victory helped him finish 38th on the Order of Merit.

Francesco Molinari (born 8 November 1982) is an Italian professional golfer.

Molinari was born on 8 November 1982 in Turin, Italy.

He is the younger brother of Edoardo Molinari.

He finished in 86th place on the tour's Order of Merit in his rookie season.

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 earned his European Tour card for 2005 through qualifying school.

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.

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.

Molinari has been in the top 100 of the World Rankings continuously since the end of 2008.

Playing with his brother Edoardo, they won the 2009 Omega Mission Hills World Cup, Italy's only win in the event.

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.

Molinari won the 2010 WGC-HSBC Champions and has represented Europe in three winning Ryder Cup teams, in 2010, 2012 and 2018.

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.

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, 141⁄2–131⁄2.

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.

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 won it outright by a score of 141⁄2 points to 131⁄2.

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.

The win moved him into 14th in the Official World Golf Ranking, his highest ranking for eight years.

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 PGA Tour.

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 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.

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.