Edoardo Molinari returns to action at the BMW Italian Open and records a 70 in the opening round
Edoardo Molinari finally returned to action at the BMW Italian Open presented by CartaSi, after spending almost three months off the course due to a wrist injury.
Right after his appearance at the Nordea Masters in June, he injured his wrist and, in turn, he had to announce his withdrawal from the second major championship of the year, the US Open.
Thereafter, he had a surgery on his wrist, which also ruined his chances of making it to the European Ryder Cup team.
A couple of weeks before, he made a statement that he almost recovered from the damage and was ready to play some competitive rounds.
Therefore, he agreed to participate in this week’s European Tour event at the Royal Park I Roveri and posted a two-under par 70 on Thursday.
The Italian got off to a good start and carded a birdie on the very first hole that he played. However, a couple of drop shots on the third and fourth hole took his score to over par.
Yet, he managed to reach the turn with an even-par score, thanks to a birdie on the ninth hole.
The back nine of the course witnessed him play some better shots and he sank three birdies against a lone bogey to settle six strokes behind the leader, Joel Sjöholm.
"The wrist is feeling good,” said the former Omega Mission Hills World Cup winner. “I'm very happy with it. There is absolutely no pain at all”.
"At the beginning I was aiming to come back for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship [in three weeks' time], but the rehab started going very well and the wrist was responding very quickly so I was able to adjust the target and play here,” he continued.
"It's a special week this one. I didn't play last year because I was playing in the States, so it's very nice to be back,” he added.
According to the 31-year-old, he played poorly in the opening round. However, it was not a disappointing factor, as he made a comeback after a long time.
Therefore, he will require more competitive rounds, in order to get back into his shape and surge into contention for the top position.
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