Forgotten figure Molinari leaves lasting impression

Carnoustie, Scotland: There is nothing flashy about Francesco Molinari except for the players he keeps beating.

He was a forgotten figure when he teed off in the final round of the British Open, mainly because he was playing with Tiger Woods, and because of the star power around him. Jordan Spieth was tied for the lead. Rory McIlroy was one shot behind Molinari.

“If someone was expecting a charge, they probably weren’t expecting it from me,” he said. “But it’s been the same the whole of my career.”

His name etched into the silver claret jug should help with that.

Now that’s flashy. And it wasn’t an accident. The 35-year-old Italian was the hottest player in golf in the two months leading up to the British Open with two victories and two runner-up finishes. All he did at the BMW PGA Championship was go head-to-head with McIlroy in the final round and beat him by two. A month later, he shot 62 in the final round to win the Quicken Loans National, with tournament host Woods finishing fourth and presenting Molinari the trophy.

Carnoustie tempered some of that confidence.

Reputed to be the toughest links in golf, especially in the 20 mph gusts that finally arrived Sunday, Molinari stopped playing the Dunhill Links Championship because that one stop on the three-course rotation ate him up. “I got beaten up around here a few times already in the past,” Molinari said. “I didn’t particularly enjoy that feeling.”

And yet there he was in the final round, with major champions in front of him and behind him and the biggest one of them all — Woods next to him in a final round so wild that seven players had a share of the lead at various times, and six players were tied on the back nine.

McIlroy and former U.S. Open champion Justin Rose made a charge. Woods and Spieth were among five contenders to make double bogeys.

Molinari took the lead for the first time with a two-putt birdie on the par-5 14th. He made one more birdie on the final hole by hitting driving that narrowly avoided a pot bunker, leaving him a lob wedge to 5 feet for a birdie that secured his place in history as Italy’s first major champion. “That putt on the last, I’ll never forget,” he said.