Francesco Molinari played flawless golf over the weekend at the Wentworth Club to hold off Rory McIlroy for the victory at the European Tour’s signature event, the BMW PGA Championship. 
McIlroy was playing his best during the first two rounds when he shot 67-65 to craft a three shot lead going into the weekend. His Friday 65 was so good his playing partner Alex Noren called it “the best round I’ve ever seen” and then said “I’m about to quit golf, I think” after watching McIlroy’s display.
But there are four rounds in this game and as McIlroy cooled on the weekend (70-71) Molinari heated up.
The 35 year old Italian was a model of consistency as he made his last bogey on his tenth hole on Friday. Over his final 44 holes he carded fourteen birdies and zero bogeys with a weekend of 66-68. That usually gets it done.
Molinari had earned a share of the final round lead with McIlroy and all eyes were on the Northern Irishman as he sets himself up for the U.S. Open next month. But McIlroy had lost control of his driver and spent the first nine holes playing from the rough. With Molinari splitting the fairways the advantage was all his. And he took it.
With birdies on numbers three and four he had put some distance between him and McIlroy. Another bird on the eighth had him out in 32 and cruising. McIlroy stumbled with bogeys on nine and ten and had given Molinari too much cushion to make up.
After a birdie on twelve he finally cut another stroke off the margin with a bird on seventeen. Meanwhile the Italian was racking up par after par.
But as we have seen McIrloy do time and time again he made it close on that exciting eighteenth hole.
Molinari laid up on the par five eighteenth and McIlroy was able to get his three wood on the green with a long putt for eagle. If he managed an eagle he would need a bogey by Molinari to tie. And Molinari nearly managed to help McIlroy out as his third shot wedge spun back to the fringe barely stopping short of dropping in the pond.
McIlroy cut his own miracle comeback short when he left his eagle putt inches from the cup and when Molinari two putted for par it was all moot anyway.
Molinari walks away with a two shot win, his fifth Euro Tour victory, a million Race to Dubai points, over a million bucks and is now in the mix for the European Ryder Cup Team. Not a bad Sunday at Wentworth.
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