Johnnie Walker Win Finally Secured Edoardo for Ryder Team Wild Pick
Edoardo Molinari played an exceptional game in the 2010 Johnnie Walker Championship which resulted in securing his place in the European Ryder Team for the ultimate Ryder Cup. Molinari along with his brother ruled the championship’s last round and at the end set an amazing finish with a win.
According to board statistics, the game was more in Rumford’s hands at the beginning while Molinari was two strokes behind him. However, with the help of three straight birdies, Molinari marked this championship as his second win of the season.
In the upcoming Ryder Cup, he would be playing with his brother Francesco as selected by the European Ryder Team captain, Colin Montgomery. Given the statistics, the selection was imminent. Edoardo finished with a 10 under par 278. This was achieved through a 71 one under. Francesco had been already assured a spot in the Ryder cup but Edoardo was the wild card pick.
While heading into the final rounds of the Johnnie Walker Championship, Edoardo was one shot ahead over his brother. Earlier, the game displayed a 4 under par by the pair with a 68 and 69 ensuring their appearance in the final round of the European Tour in Scotland. Last month, the same could be seen at the Scottish open. That time also it was Edoardo who had won the cup but this time the R3 seems to be lead by Francesco.
Molinari explained that if he wasn’t selected for the Ryder Cup he would rather have been upset. He stated that winning the last cup but not getting picked up would have meant that something was wrong. The lead was mostly a cause of tussle between the two brothers but ended with Molinari. At the 14th hole, he ended up in the bunker. This made him fall one behind after blasting across the greens. Behind Francesco and Jimnez, he fell with a two put for bogey.
The board was ruled with a trio in the second round, but the tables turned with the Englishmen going down to 74 and 77. Edoardo won the championship with a one shot lead over Rumford and hence paved his way towards victory. Jimnez, however, walked away with a double bogey, which is actually two straight bogeys in two consecutive holes. At 16th, he had a birdie but 17th wasn’t so friendly with him. He missed the putt at the 17th and the green at par 3.
Considering the bogeys and birdies these brothers attained, they had played with the same format on second and third. On the sixth, Edoardo lead with a birdie while Francesco melted to a minus seven with 3 bogeys back to back from 7th. Edoardo on 8th and 9th bogeyed too. Form the 12th, Francesco had the birdie-bogey-birdie-bogey format. Edoardo attained one on 14th. At the 17th hole, Rumford, who lead the board, was on minus 9. He achieved the top position with two straight birdies. At the previous hole, the Australian player had a single birdie and bogeys.
Coming back to the brothers, these two seemed to be the only ones who could chase the Australian player. At the 16th hole, Molinari and Francesco travelled to minus 8, with Molinari achieving a birdie hence two putted. Francesco, on the other hand, also attained a birdie up and down. The brothers were separated on the leader board after Francesco moved down. This happened due to his second shot ending up early from the green. He slid into the third place when he achieved the unplayable lie penalty after which the fourth entered the green.
To the already complicated Ryder Cup equation, Molinari proved to be a strong variable in the eyes of Montgomery. He closed the game with a ten under par 278 and a 1 under last round. After sealing the Johnnie Walker victory, Molinari had acted as a rather strong candidate for the wild card pick. He finally ended up sealing the wildcard too.
Tags: