Italian’s crowning glory in Dubai is one for the history books
Twenty-eighteen will go down in the history books as ‘The Year of Molinari’. Everything the Italian touched seemed to turn to gold this season from winning the BMW PGA Championship in May followed by his first Major victory in Scotland where he lifted the Claret Jug in The Open to the manner in which he thrilled the golf world during the Ryder Cup. Indeed, Molinari was the hero of the victorious European Ryder Cup team in Paris. Then came the final crowning glory: Francesco Molinari rounded-off his dream year by winning the ‘Race to Dubai’.
Remarkably, he had played in just eleven tournaments on the European Tour before heading to the Jumeirah Golf Estates in the United Arab Emirates for the final event (15-18 November). The DP World Tour Championship in Dubai is now traditionally the Tour’s big climax event where obscene bonuses dangle like golden carrots in the desert for Europe’s elite top-60.
Molinari had mustered enough points to be leading the ‘Race to Dubai Ranking’. In fact, he was more than one million ahead of his nearest rival, Ryder Cup buddy and last year’s order of merit winner Tommy Fleetwood. It was a two-horse race in Dubai.
And so it was, just ten days after his 36th birthday, that Molinari rounded-off his stunning season with rounds of 68, 73, 70 and 71 in the final event. The star from Turin had kept his cool in the heat of Dubai. Six-under par saw him finish in the middle of the field but still collect more than 70,000 euros for his effort. But much more importantly, it was good enough to secure him the 2018 ‘Race to Dubai’ title – by a mile. It also earned him a 1,250,000 US dollar bonus which takes his winnings this season to more than six million euros – 6,041,521 euros, to be precise!
In his well-prepared playing schedule, Molinari even managed to squeeze-in his first victory on the PGA Tour in America where he won the ‘Quicken Loans National’ by an impressive eight strokes!
Buddy Fleetwood
American Patrick Reed also played 12 tournaments on the European Tour this season. He finished in second place in the DP World Tour Championship two shots behind the winner Danny Willett from England (18-under par). Reed’s fiery finish saw him soar to number two in the final ‘Race to Dubai Ranking’ leaving England’s Tommy Fleetwood in third place and another American, Xander Schauffele as fourth.
Francesco Molinari’s magical year had been on the cards for some time. He had been in contention in the ‘Race to Dubai’ the last four seasons with four top-10 finishes. But for everything to come together in a Ryder Cup year and to become the first Italian ever to win a Major, Francesco and his family must be feeling mighty chuffed.
Many congratulations on a terrific year, Francesco! Molte congratulazioni!
Wendy Hoad
FINAL RANKING: Interested to see where your favourite players finished in the money-list?
PICTURED: Europe’s Number One player for 2018, Francesco Molinari.