Molinari: one-shot victory in ChinaFinal leaderboard:(GB & Ire unless stated)
F Molinari (Ita) -19
L Westwood -18
L Donald -9
R Ramsay -9
R McIlroy -8
Click here for collated final round scores.
Francesco Molinari held off the determined challenge of Lee Westwood to win the HSBC Champions event by one stroke from the world number one.The Italian, who turns 28 on Monday, clinched his second European Tour title with a wire-to-wire victory in Shanghai after carding a final round of 67 at Sheshan International GC to finish 19-under-par.
Westwood also shot a 67 to consolidate his position at the top of the world rankings, ending on 18-under-par, while Luke Donald and Richie Ramsay shared third, a distant 10 shots back of the winner on nine-under.
Molinari emerged as a worthy winner, proving the equal of playing partner Westwood throughout the final round with neither player dropping a shot in a high-quality climax to a tournament they dominated.
Westwood, though, will be greatly encouraged by the quality of his game following a lay-off due to calf and ankle injuries.
Starting the day on 14-under, and one ahead of Westwood, Molinari quickly set about cementing his place at the top of the leaderboard with birdies at the second and third.
Westwood matched his rival's three at the third and again at the fifth before both players picked up another stroke at the par-five eighth following excellent approach shots.
The Englishman missed a chance to close reduce the deficit to one shot at the ninth when he failed to take advantage of a good look at birdie, with Molinari scrambling to save his par after leaving his second short of the green.
Westwood did manage to close the gap at the tenth with a birdie, Molinari only making par following an ordinary approach, and the Worksop golfer almost drew level at the next but saw a long birdie putt agonisingly come to rest on the edge of the hole.
Molinari could have established a two-shot cushion at the 14th when he sent a delicate chip and run close to the flag but then surprisingly missed a relatively short birdie putt.
Westwood failed to capitalise on an opening at the 15th when Molinari found an awkward spot with his approach, but the Englishman's second came to rest just off the far edge of the green. Molinari recovered to make his par and the lead remained one with three to play.
It was the short par-four 16th that proved pivotal to the final outcome. Westwood let rip with a three-wood but landed in a tricky spot just short of the green. Molinari found the rough with an iron but hit a great second shot to around 10 feet.
Facing a very awkward chip, Westwood's attempt just cleared the bunker but came to rest in the rough on the upslope. He recovered to make par but Molinari sank his fifth birdie of the day to enjoy a two-stroke advantage.
The pair both parred the penultimate hole and Molinari decided to play it safe on the par-five 18th by laying up. Effectively needing an eagle to force a play-off and with nothing to lose, Westwood reached the green in two but was left disappointed as his ball came to rest on top of a ridge instead of rolling back towards the hole.
The Italian stroked a long birdie attempt up to the hole and Westwood was unable to find the cup with his eagle putt, allowing Molinari to tap in and claim the title.
Donald, meanwhile, could have secured third place on his own but contrived to miss a short birdie putt at the last and fell back into a tie with Ramsay.
Playing in the final group, the 32-year-old never really found his rhythm, posting a 73 that included three bogeys on the front nine. Donald had dropped just one shot over his previous 54 holes.
Ramsay signed for a 71 that featured three birdies and two bogeys to also end nine-under, while Rory McIlroy finished fifth on eight-under after completing a fine closing 67.
Tiger Woods climbed into a share of sixth with Paul Casey, Ernie Els, Richard Green, Retief Goosen, Peter Hanson and Fredrik Andersson Hed on seven-under, following a 68 that saw the former world number one mix seven birdies with three bogeys.
No comments:
Post a Comment