Francesco Molinari holds off Rory McIlroy to win BMW PGA Championship

Francesco Molinari was the well deserved winner of the BMW PGA Championship as he beat Rory McIlroy with a brilliantly composed final round of 68 to take the title by two shots. And he’s properly played himself into Ryder Cup contention.

Molinari carefully plotted his way round Wentworth on his final round, and displayed exactly the qualities that Thomas Bjorn must be looking for the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National in Paris.

Molinari has been a three-time runner-up at the French Open, played at Le Golf National, and it is a course that perfectly suits his game.

“It’s on a course I love and where I have almost as good a record as I have here, so I’d love to be there,” Molinari said. 

“Unfortunately my last really good week up until now was in August last year, just before the start of the Ryder Cup qualification period. I didn’t even look at the standings after that, to be honest.

“I don’t know where I was in the table but it’s not nice seeing that you’re a long way back. So I tried to focus on other things. Now I’ll probably have a look and enjoy it, but there’s a long way to go.”

“I’m old enough now that I’ve played in probably tougher circumstances even than today, playing against Tiger in the Ryder Cup and stuff like that,” Molinari said. “Rory is a great guy. I didn’t feel intimidated at all. The last couple of holes, he’s basically thinking eagle, eagle. I’m thinking par, par, and that makes the whole difference.”

Molinari has properly played himself into Thomas Bjorn’s Ryder Cup team - it may still be early doors, but he has the game that will deliver.

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