Edoardo Molinari
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EmailAUCHTERARDER, Scotland – Edoardo Molinari faces a tense wait, but it’s a confident wait.
Winning the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles was the easy part, waiting to know if he is in the European Ryder Cup team as one of Colin Montgomerie’s three wild card picks is the hard part.
Molinari’s closing 1-under-par 71, for a 10-under-par total of 278, was good enough to win the championship by a stroke over Bent Rumford of Australia, and the first place check for €282,772. It was also good enough for a three-shot advantage over younger brother Francesco, with whom he played the final round.
Francesco’s place in the European team is already assured. Now the brothers in arms have to wait to see if they will tee it up together in the Ryder Cup.
“I knew if I didn’t win I didn’t think I’d get a pick,” Edoardo said. “I started to feel a little bit of pressure after the 13th to be honest. The Ryder Cup was in the back of my mind a little bit. After 13 I knew I had to win to get a pick.”
If Montgomerie is looking for a player to handle the pressure of the Ryder Cup then Edoardo showed he has the right stuff with the way he played the final three holes. He birdied all three to come from two shots behind Rumford to steal the title.
It was his second victory in Scotland this year. Edoardo also won the Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond, also playing the final round with his brother. Now he’s looking forward to playing more with his brother in the Ryder Cup.
“I like my chances,” he said.
While Edoardo faces a tense wait, Peter Hanson and Miguel Angel Jimenez were making plans to travel to Celtic Manor along with Francesco Molinari, Ross Fisher, Ian Poulter, Graeme McDowell, Martin Kaymer, Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood as the nine automatic players on the team.
Hanson’s 18th-place finish was good enough to seal his place in the top nine. Miguel Angel Jimenez might have won the tournament if not for a double bogey at the 17th when he duffed his chip and missed a bogey putt from a foot. He finished joint third.
Jimenez will make his fourth Ryder Cup appearance, Hanson his first. Like the rest of the European Tour, they were waiting to see if Edoardo would join them in the European team room.
Surely Edoardo can’t be denied?
