Five European tour victor Francesco Molinari dominated on Sunday at Quicken Loans National, establishing his first career PGA Tour win.
Molinari birdied his concluding two holes to post a second successive 65 at TPC Potomac and join Abraham Ancer, who fired a round-of-the-day 62, tied at the top on 13 under.
“Amazing, amazing. I still haven’t realized what happened today,” said Molinari, who matched Dustin Johnson for the largest margin of victory on tour this season.
“It was a lot easier than I thought. I played great. The start of the back nine was incredible. Really proud of what I’ve done, and I hope a lot of guys back home in Italy are watching tonight”, he added.
Molinari came into the weekend a shot off the pace but opened with a 20-foot birdie at the first and fired his approach to tap-in range at the seventh, before canceling out a three-putt bogey at the eighth with a 15-foot gain at the ninth to reach the turn in 33.
Ancer had made a fast start with four birdies in his first seven holes, with further close-range gains at the 10th and 14th moving the 27-year-old ahead of a congested group of players.
Woods recovered from an opening-hole bogey to fire four consecutive gains from the fourth and briefly get within one of the lead, before bouncing back from a blemish at the eighth to sink a 20-foot birdie at the next.
While acquiring a share of the lead heading into the final round, Molinari’s ultimate intentions targeted the earning of more FedEx Cup points, which was required to secure a spot in the playoffs at season’s end. Molinari strategized by missing the French Open, one of his favorite European Tour events and a tournament that could have benefited his Ryder Cup status.