The faithful that filed onto the course at Bay Hill Club and Lodge for the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational were ready for some fireworks today. With the very popular defending champion Rory McIlroy just one shot behind the still fresh faced Matthew Fitzpatrick the fans were hoping it would come down to that treacherous eighteenth hole. It seems it always does come down to that hefty par four with the pin stuck far back on the green on Sundays guarded by that pond that sees more splashes then a backyard pool.
Well, it sort of did come down to that hole but the shot that decided it didn’t come from Rors or Fitz. Francesco Molinari played the role of spoiler as Fitzpatrick (71) and McIlroy (72) struggled to make birdies while Molinari found plenty of them..
The Champion Golfer of the Year carded a stellar eight under 64 and his final birdie was a 43 foot putt on that nasty eighteenth hole where he celebrated with an emphatic fist pump, rarely seen from the normally reserved Italian.
Molinari is sneaky good as they like to say and today was the perfect example of his ability to be just close enough and then shoot up the lederboard with a hot round. Molinari was five shots off the lead when he started and teed off nearly two hours before the final group. But he wasted little time in making a move with birdies on the first and third. He turned in four under for his front and played brilliant golf coming in with birdies on twelve, thirteen and sixteen before he set the mark of twelve under for the field to chase.
No one was up to the task. McIlroy, he of four majors, continued his poor Sunday play and struggled mightily on the greens. A few players were championed by Dan Hicks to try and make a run but it was all fluff as Kevin Kisner, Aaron Baddeley and Matt Wallace had little chance of catching Molinari.
Fitzpatrick was the only one with a real chance coming down the brutal finish at Bay Hill and with the greens so firm and running at hyper-space speeds all he could manage was a single birdie paired with a matching bogey to finish two back of Molinari. He’ll have to wait for his first PGA Tour victory.
Molinari has more game than most American golf fans realize. This is his third PGA Tour win in nine months as his hot streak last July earned him wins at The Open Championship and the Quicken Loans National sandwiched around a T2 at The John Deere.
He is not called a long driver as he only averaged 295 yards off the tee this week (only 295! Ha!) but he hits it straight as he found 85% of his fairways and only needed an impressive 25 putts today. He gained over four strokes on the field with his putter and that was something his challengers couldn’t match.
The humble Molinari was thrilled to win at Arnie’s Place and realizes that the eighteenth hole has seen its share of history, “It’s a pretty iconic putt, I’ve seen so many putts on TV like that, and to do it yourself, it’s really amazing.”
The Arnold Palmer Invitational has a special place on the tour and among the players and Molinari knows winning here means a bit more than other tour stops.
“Incredible, it’s high up there with the best wins I’ve had. He [Palmer] was a special player but most of all a special person and a global icon for the game. For someone like me coming from Italy, he and Jack [Nicklaus] were up there as gods, so to win here is truly special.”
Oh yes it is, well played Francesco.
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