ROME – Home favourite Francesco Molinari carded an impressive six-under-par final round to hold off a surging Danny Willett and win the second Italian Open of his career on Sunday. The victory marks an exciting return to form for Molinari and catapults the Italian back into the top-50 in the world rankings. 

 Despite torrential rain earlier in the week, which had resulted in delays to Saturday’s third round, Monza’s Golf Club Milano was resplendent on Sunday, with the sun shining on thousands of fans all hoping for an Italian winner. In the end, it was Francesco Molinari who would delight his faithful, following a tense battle with Englishman and reigning Masters’ Champion Danny Willett, over the closing stages of the final round. 

 In winning the Italian Open for the second time, Molinari becomes the first Italian in history to win his national open twice, since the event first formed a regular part of the European Tour’s circuit in 1972. Sunday’s dominant performance also earned Molinari his first victory since the Open de España in 2012. 

 “It’s been a rollercoaster of a day,” said the Italian after closing out the win. “It was amazing to have this amount of people out here supporting me. Coming in I had nothing left, I was playing with my soul. Somehow we managed to bring it in.” 

 The final round represented a glorious spectacle for the neutral however, to describe it as a nerve-wracking experience for the throng of Italians following Molinari and Willett down each fairway, would be a gross understatement. Their man opened up with an eagle on the first and when he followed it with birdies at the second and sixth, Molinari had opened up a four-shot lead on his English rival. A short missed putt on the 13^th however, would prove costly, as the Molinari bogey coupled with a Willett birdie halved the deficit to just two shots with five holes remaining. 

 “I thought maybe I could relax a bit after making the birdie on 12,” said Molinari. “That was a mistake. I missed a short putt on 13. Coming in after that was just short game and guts.” 

 Molinari bounced straight back from the bogey on 13 to record a birdie at the short par-5 14^th, however when facing an opponent of Willett’s calibre, birdies aren’t always enough. This was underlined when the Masters’ Champion knocked his approach on the same hole to 12 feet and rolled in the eagle with consummate ease. Deficit reduced to one, four holes left to play. 

 After a trio of pars for both men, the scores remained the same on the 18^th tee. Teeing off first, Willett hit possibly his worst tee shot of the week, which clattered into the trees on the left. However, far from capitalising on his rival’s mistake, the generally reliable Molinari produced an equally wayward tee shot, which finished in the trees on the right hand side of the fairway.  

 With Willett in trouble and still a shot behind, the Italian supporters knew that one more good swing from their man and the title would most likely be his. Molinari handled the pressure remarkably well and duly produced a sensational approach from under the trees onto the front of the green. However, just when Italy was breathing a collective sigh of relief, Willett holed a 15-foot putt for a miraculous par to pile the pressure on Molinari’s short putt for the win. The Italian holed his putt for a one-shot victory, to prompt the biggest cheer in his career to date. 

 “It’s amazing. Just amazing,” he said. “The best thing for me is to win it in this way when the long game wasn’t there. It makes it even more special. It was amazing to be part of it and to give all the fans here today an Italian winner.” 

 The Spaniard Nacho Elvira matched Molinari’s final round score of 65 to finish in a tie for third with Englishman Chris Paisley, but in reality, Sunday at the Golf Club Milano was a straight shootout between Molinari and Willett, two of Europe’s finest players. One commentator on Sky Italia noted that the atmosphere was like nothing he’d ever experienced at a European Tour event, likening the noise of the crowds to a Ryder Cup. This will provide music to the ears of the organisers of the Ryder Cup in 2022, which is due to be held at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, just outside Rome. 

 While Molinari’s impressive return to form may have arrived just a few weeks too late for this year’s Ryder Cup selection process, the victory bodes well for the Italian and his 2017 season. For Danny Willett however, the focus now turns to Hazeltine and the biennial contest against the old enemy from the United States. If the Englishman continues his fine form from Monza at the Ryder Cup in a fortnight’s time, the Americans will have to produce a Molinari-esque performance, just to have a chance.

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