Francesco

Molinari

The Italian found just 6-of-14 fairways (T99) and landed a ho-hum 12 GIR (T61). “I chipped and putted really well, which you have to to go that low. Yeah, game was pretty good. I think I can hit the ball off the tee a little better, but even the misses were in play, which is I think one of the keys here, not to get any penalty shots.” That short game helped him avoid all but one bogey on his card today which was easily offset by eight birdies. Molinari missed the cut here last year in his debut but arrives in better form this time around, posting four straight top 35s (three on DP World Tour) in the lead-up to this week.

The Italian twirled a T14 at The 150th Open but didn’t fight for a FedExCup Playoffs spot down the stretch. He settled for 137th on the final FedExCup board but still has fully exempt status thanks to his win at the 2018 Open Championship. The 39-year-old continues to play a light schedule due to injuries and managing family life but he always makes sure to show up at Wentworth Club. He’s landed top 10s in six of his last nine visits including a win at the 2018 BMW PGA Championship. It’s clear this is one of his favorite venues but he’s a major wildcard this week, arriving without any worldwide play since The Open, roughly two months ago.

After kicking off with 71-68-70, the Los Angeles resident addressed his lofty position on the leaderboard (link below): “To be honest, where I’ve been, I’m just happy to be up there. It’s been harder than I ever thought it would be, between injuries and just other things that kind of got in the way. Yeah, I lost my way for a while. I feel this year there’s definitely been some improvement in the game, maybe not yet in the results and in the scores, but even just the last few weeks.” The Italian, who arrived off a T55 two weeks ago at the PGA in Tulsa, has tallied 14 birdies versus seven bogeys, four against two in R3, and ranks 46th SG: Off-the-Tee (-0.260), 24th SG: Approach (2.134), 4th SG: Around (4.314) and 19th SG: Putting (2.961). His most recent of three TOUR wins in 177 events is the 2019 Arnold Palmer Invitational 45 starts ago, where he came from five back (T17) with a week-low, bogey-free 8-under 64 to win by two over 54-hole leader Matt Fitzpatrick (71).

The 39-year-old is making his first appearance since a missed cut by five in 2016 (71-76) and also debuted a T3 the year prior on 13-under 271, where he was T2 thru 54 holes (68-67-69-71). This is his first time in the halfway top 10 since last season’s AmEx (Jan. 2021), where he was T7 before finishing T8 (69-66-69-70). At the midpoint, the Los Angeles resident has signed for rounds of 71-68, totaled 10 birdies against five bogeys, five versus one today, and ranks 17th SG: Tee-to-Green (4.716) and 23rd SG: Putting (2.210), including a 1.859 SGP today. His most recent of three TOUR victories in 177 events is the 2019 Arnold Palmer Invitational 45 starts ago as a pre-tourney 33/1 outright, where he was T3 (4 back) at the midpoint (69-70-73-64).

The Italian twirled a T3 in his 2015 Memorial debut but missed the cut in 2016. He hasn’t been back since but opted to tee it up this week in hopes of building on back-to-back paydays (T17/ AT&T Byron Nelson and T55/ PGA Championship). He had missed three straight cuts before that. On the season, he is 8-for-13 but just two of those landed inside of the top 25, settling for 156th in the current FedExCup standings. When Molinari was contending on a more regular basis, he was getting the job done with steady striking. Right now he ranks just 156th in strokes gained off-the-tee this season and 139th on approach.

In 2018 at TPC Potomac, the 39-year-old Molinari shot 62 in the final round to finish at 21-under 259, winning by eight strokes over Ryan Armour and besting tournament host Tiger Woods by 10. Just two weeks later, Molinari beat Woods again when he won The Open Championship, and he ended the season by going 5-0-0 at the Ryder Cup. He’s one just once since then, at the 2019 Arnold Palmer Invitational, and this season he’s an unremarkable 6-for-10 in cuts made to date. “A lot of things have changed,” he told GolfChannel.com on Tuesday. “I’m very different in many ways than I was in 2018. I’m trying to work my way back. I have a new team around me, and I’m trying to reinvent myself. It’s fun. It’s a new challenge, and I’m looking forward to seeing how far I can go.” His best finish this season is a T-6 at the American Express, and he arrives in Maryland off missed cuts in the Valspar and the Masters.

The California resident started his week at Torrey Pines North and kept a clean card despite some ho-hum striking. Molinari found just half of the potential 14 fairways and landed 15 greens in regulation from there. “Yeah, pretty much continuing the same stuff as last week. Played pretty solid, obviously a good finish. Made a great putt on 8, my 17th hole, and then a good up-and-down on 9 to finish with a couple more birdies.” Molinari had finished T67 or worse in six straight starts before last week’s T6 at The American Express. With each of his last four top 10s all coming in the Golden State it appears that California home cooking is the recipe for success with Molinari. The Italian arrived with a 3-for-5 record at the Farmers with notable finishes of T14 (2017) and T10 (2021).

This is the Italian’s 28th career top 10 in 168 events, first since T8 at last season’s Genesis Invitational 12 starts ago. It’s his third at the AmEx in six tries, second straight after T8 last year, and in fact, his most recent four top 10s have all come in his adopted home state of California. After opening with trip 67s (LQ-NT-SC), the Los Angeles resident began in a six-way T5, three back of rookie co-leaders Lee Hodges and Paul Barjon, and found 10 (of 14) fairways and 13 greens in regulation. He sandwiched seven birdies at holes 4, 6 (fringe-shot from 21'11"), 7, 11, 12, 15 (hole-out from 14'5" away) and 16, with three bogey-5s at 2, 3, and 18 (failed scrambles), gaining 3.287 strokes tee-to-green but losing 0.373 on-the-green, missing three putts from inside of nine feet. For the week, the 39-year-old totaled 25 birdies against six bogeys, and in his two lasered laps at the Stadium Course over the weekend, ranked 12th SG: Tee-to-Green (4.671). He is in the published field at this coming week’s Farmers.

Molinari, who moved to nearby Los Angeles in Sep. 2020 after 11 years in London, is eyeing his third top 10 in the event in six tries, second straight after T8 last year (69-66-69-70). He’s also chasing his fourth top 10 in California in his last five events in the Golden State, chasing that T8 with a T10 at the Farmers and T8 and the Genesis Invite. The Italian, who arrived off a mid-tourney WD at the Houston Open 10 weeks ago (did not return for R2 resumption on Sat.), is vying for his fourth TOUR victory in 168 events, first since the 2019 Arnold Palmer Invitational 36 starts ago, where he came from five back (T17) with a week-low bogey-free 8-under 64 to win by two. Today, he outpaced one square with six circles on 11 greens in regulation, gaining 1.374 strokes tee-to-green and 1.878 on-the-green. See link below to post-round comments.

The last time the now-39-year-old was this low in the world rankings was 15 years ago in the early part of 2006. That came two years after turning pro, in his second season on the European Tour, and nine years prior to his first full season on the PGA TOUR. The Italian reached a high of OWGR No. 5 in 2018, fueled by three worldwide wins in six starts, culminated by his maiden major title at the 147th Open at Carnoustie. Calendar-year 2019 brought another win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and three starts later, seemed destined for a second major victory at the 2019 Masters, where he was the 54-hole leader by two and still led by two before a disastrous double bogey-5 at 12 (and another double at 15), both in the company of eventual champion Tiger Woods, settling for a T5. Molinari, who’s since changed caddies, did not start in his 2020 API title defense (back), withdrew prior from the 2020 PGA and U.S. Open, the Tokyo Olympics (back), the 2021 PGA (back), and relocated his family from Italy to California (2020), has not recorded another top-5 finish since. His most recent action was a mid-tourney WD at this season’s Houston Open six weeks ago (did not return for R2 resumption on Saturday), and a quick look at his schedule on his personal website does not show any upcoming events listed.