Molinari edges Westwood in Shanghai thriller
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Tournament winner Francesco Molinari seems curiously unimpressed by the thought that he has just pocketed a cheque for 1.2 million dollars.[China.org.cn] |
As China.org was able to reveal exclusively yesterday–confirmed by European Tour official Scott Crockett – there has never been a recorded instance where the top two players in a European Tour event went wire-to-wire from Day 1 to Day 4 of the competition. That is what happened yesterday when Italy's Francesco Molinari beat England's Lee Westwood to lift the trophy.
Even more remarkable, the margin of victory–a single shot–stayed the same throughout the four rounds of the tournament. Molinari scored 65 to Westwood's 66 on Day 1, and after that both players shot 70, 67, 67.
But such statistics will be of little relevance to the players. Concentrating on their golf and on the day, what they would have been most aware of was that they were running away from the rest of the field. By the close, Molinari was ten shots ahead of third-placed pair Richie Ramsay of Scotland and England's Luke Donald.
The critical moment came on the short par-4 16th. This is a wonderful hole that tempts the big hitters into going for the flag from the tee, but the green is small and the approach is narrow. Plenty of players had a go, but not a single eagle was scored there during the whole competition.
Arriving on 16 yesterday, Westwood was one behind, and the holes were running out. He decided to have a go from the tee, and hit it pin-high. But he missed only very slightly to the left, hit a bunker, and bounced out into the rough. "I couldn't have left it in a worse spot," he said. "I got a bit unlucky with a 3-wood. It hit the back of the trap and it had gone 290 yards – I don't hit a 3-wood that far. It shot forward and left me in the worst possible spot. Had it stopped in the sand where it landed, I've got a pretty easy chip at the green. Just one of those breaks I didn't get."
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