Edoardo Molinari claimed his first European Tour title in seven years in the most dramatic of fashions at the Trophée Hassan II, beating Irishman Paul Dunne in a play-off after the Italian carded an eagle on the final hole of regulation play to force extra holes.
In an enthralling finale at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Rabat, the 2010 Ryder Cup star came racing through the pack on the back nine with two birdies and two eagles, as Dunne struggled to hold onto the two-shot lead he carried into the final round.
But it was Molinari’s heroics at the final hole which proved the real turning point, sinking a 25 foot putt for what was the only three on the tough par five 18th all day to force extra holes courtesy of a five under 68 and a nine under total.
Both players struggled on the first extra hole but, following an imaginative putt from the first cut of rough off the back of the 18th green, Molinari left himself with an easier par chance than Dunne.
When the 24 year old from Wicklow rolled his eight-footer past on the left side, Molinari was left to knock in the winning putt for a third European Tour victory, which marked a remarkable return following a difficult two year period during which he was forced to regain his card twice through Qualifying School.
Player quotes:
Edoardo Molinari
“It's fantastic. I've been through some very hard times with injuries and bad form. To be able to win this week deletes a lot of bad memories and hopefully I can keep going down this road.
“Given the circumstances it's probably one of the best back nines I’ve ever had. After the 12th hole I thought I had a chance, then I missed a short putt at the 13th. I had another chance on 15 - didn't make it - then when you bogey 16, you think it's almost over because on the 17th today you'd be happy with a par.
“I managed to hit a great five iron to seven or eight feet and I made the putt. That gave me a boost going down the last - I still had a chance. I thought ‘if I can make a three here then suddenly it's wide open’.
“It just shows that you should never give up, you should always keep trying, keep working hard. I've probably been the player who has spent the most time on the driving range over the last three years. This is a great reward for so much hard work.
“It's been a long time. Sometimes you doubt yourself and think these times are never going to come back.”
Paul Dunne
“I felt like there were just so many shots that slipped away from me. It's just one of those days. I felt like I was really close to shooting four or five under and I was stuck with one under in the end.
“I'm happy with my form and looking forward to next week and hopefully I can do a better job of finishing it off.
“I'm just a bit disappointed not to come out with the result we wanted but it's a step in the right direction.”
Paul Waring
“I am happy with that round. I gave myself a chance and I hit some great shots coming in. I obviously missed a birdie putt at 16 and from there I knew it was going to be a struggle. It would have been nice to roll that putt in on 18 and make a four but it was a good week – I’m incredibly disappointed to fall short again but what can you do.
“The swing I made on 17 was probably my best shot of the day. I tried to be quite aggressive with my shot, I tried to force a score. There was some real quality stuff in there but there was some stuff that let me down at the end which is quite frustrating.
“It was a fantastic week. The course has been fantastic, it’s been looked after so well. It’s one of those great weeks that I’ll always come back to.”
Scores:
Play-off: E Molinari 5, P Dunne 6
283 E Molinari (Ita) 71 74 70 68, P Dunne (Irl) 73 69 69 72,
284 P Waring (Eng) 74 71 69 70,
286 V Dubuisson (Fra) 73 71 72 70, L Jensen (Den) 75 69 70 72,
287 D Brooks (Eng) 73 71 73 70, C Hanson (Eng) 74 70 72 71,
288 A Chesters (Eng) 73 74 72 69, J Smith (Eng) 73 75 70 70, C Pigem (Esp) 75 72 69 72, T Fisher Jnr (RSA) 71 70 74 73, R Paratore (Ita) 73 74 66 75,
289 J Fahrbring (Swe) 73 75 74 67, H Porteous (RSA) 77 70 74 68, J Morrison (Eng) 70 72 79 68, J Luiten (Ned) 75 72 71 71, M Pavon (Fra) 72 73 72 72, P Larrazábal (Esp) 72 73 69 75,
290 B Hebert (Fra) 75 68 78 69, J Stalter (Fra) 76 72 71 71, D Drysdale (Sco) 72 76 71 71, S Heisele (Ger) 72 73 73 72, R Gouveia (Por) 75 69 73 73, J Campillo (Esp) 74 69 74 73, D Frittelli (RSA) 71 72 72 75, G Havret (Fra) 70 70 75 75,
291 M Orrin (Eng) 71 76 75 69, R Wattel (Fra) 72 76 73 70, C Paisley (Eng) 76 72 71 72, R Karlberg (Swe) 75 73 71 72, P Edberg (Swe) 71 73 75 72, D Stewart (Sco) 72 72 74 73, L Bjerregaard (Den) 70 71 74 76,
292 R Bland (Eng) 74 73 75 70, W Ormsby (Aus) 75 71 76 70, L Canter (Eng) 74 73 74 71, A Levy (Fra) 71 75 74 72, J Van Zyl (RSA) 71 75 74 72, M Ilonen (Fin) 72 73 75 72, G Stal (Fra) 70 75 75 72, A Rai (Eng) 72 75 72 73, J Winther (Den) 72 74 73 73, A Wall (Eng) 74 73 70 75, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 72 72 72 76, G Bourdy (Fra) 71 71 73 77,
293 S Gros (Fra) 77 70 76 70, J Lagergren (Swe) 75 73 73 72,
294 A Cañizares (Esp) 72 76 75 71, S Soderberg (Swe) 73 73 75 73, A Saddier (Fra) 73 73 75 73, M Foster (Eng) 72 74 75 73, A Karlsson (Swe) 72 73 74 75, D Burmester (RSA) 78 70 70 76, M Manassero (Ita) 72 74 72 76, R Gonzalez (Arg) 74 71 71 78,
295 J Edfors (Swe) 73 71 80 71, J Guerrier (Fra) 76 71 76 72, S Tiley (Eng) 75 72 72 76, A Otaegui (Esp) 73 72 73 77,
296 A Lguirati (am) (Mar) 76 71 77 72, D Im (USA) 74 73 74 75, M Nixon (Eng) 74 73 72 77, L Slattery (Eng) 74 72 73 77, T Lewis (Eng) 75 68 75 78,
298 M Southgate (Eng) 75 73 75 75,
301 J Dantorp (Swe) 73 74 79 75, D Perrier (Fra) 74 74 76 77, M Armitage (Eng) 76 70 76 79,
302 R Johnson (Swe) 72 76 74 80,
304 R Echenique (Arg) 73 74 79 78,
306 B Evans (Eng) 72 75 79 80,
