POTOMAC, Md. Francesco Molinari is a man stuck between continents.The Italian has played on two Ryder Cups and has won four times on the European Tour - including this years BMW PGA Championship, that circuits flagship event - but as this year progressed he found himself in a difficult position.He struggled early on the West Coast, failing to post a top-10 finish, and as the heart of the European Tour schedule approached he was forced to make a difficult choice.At 123rd on the FedExCup points list, Molinari was in danger of not keeping his PGA Tour card, so instead of playing this weeks French Open, one of the marquee stops on the European Tour, he opted for the Quicken Loans National.It turns out his timing was perfect.I came here obviously because I was right on the bubble in the FedExCup and I wanted to gain a better position, so I guess job done, said Molinari, who cruised to his first Tour title with a closing 62 and an eight-stroke victory over Ryan Armour.
Full-field scores from the Quicken Loans NationalQuicken Loans National: Articles, photos and videos
Molinari started the day tied with Abraham Ancer and was alone in the lead after nine holes thanks to a 14-foot par putt at the ninth hole. He made it look easy from there.Molinari eagled the par-5 10th hole to pad his advantage and added birdies at the next four holes to lap the field, which included host Tiger Woods, and shatter the tournament record total by seven strokes.Flushed the tee shot on 10, it's a daunting tee shot, and made a great putt for eagle [48 feet], he said. My thought was really if I get the ball on the fairway on 11, that was the last shot really that I was a little bit scared of because if you hit in the water, you can make a big number.There were no big numbers for Molinari, who made just two bogeys all week at TPC Potomac and put on a ball-striking show hitting 62 of 72 greens in regulation for the tournament.Thats a long way from how he played the first few months of the season on Tour. Despite his success in Europe, which included a runner-up finish at the Italian Open in June, he was in danger of not qualifying for the playoffs until his breakthrough at the Quicken Loans National.The first part of the season probably I wasn't playing quite as well as I have been in the last month or so, he said. The putting is definitely improved and that's taken pressure off the long game as well because if you know you can make 20, 30 footers, you're not trying too hard to leave it close to the flag.His victory vaulted him to 42nd on the season-long points race and puts him on pace for his ultimate goal to qualify for the Tour Championship, which he narrowly missed last year.It also gives him some freedom to pursue his other goal this season, which is to qualify for the European Ryder Cup team. In fact, playing for Europe later this year in France almost prompted Molinari to change his plans for this week and play the French Open.Unfortunately or fortunately when you play two tours, you need to balance the two things, he said. It wasn't an easy decision, I thought until the last minute whether to go to France or to come here, but seems like it was the right choice in the end.Although Molinari planned to fly home to London following his victory at TPC Potomac, he will return to the United States to fulfill his commitment to play the John Deere Classic, which is required under the strength of field requirement, before heading to Scotland for The Open.
Rory McIlroy will begin the defence of his Irish Open title alongside Hideki Matsuyama and Jon Rahm. The group - which sees world number four McIlroy head-to-head with world number two Matsuyama
Jon Rahm upstages Rory McIlroy at Irish Open - golf.com
2019 Memorial Tournament tee times, pairings: When Tiger Woods, field start Round 3 on Saturday Big Cat will try to get in contention on Saturday at Muirfield Village.
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KUALA LUMPUR: Don't be surprised if this year's Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia turns out to be a titanic battle between the world's top two golfers - Lydia Ko and Ariya Jutanugarn. Although 18-year-old New Zealander Lydia is the world No. 1, she has fallen behind world No. 2 Ariya of Thailand on two fronts.
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Tournament of Champions purse payout: Xander clears .3 million Source: The Golf Channel Prize money payouts and FedExCup points breakdowns for all 33 players at the 2019 Sentry Tournament of Champions, including winner Xander Schauffele:
Tournament of Champions purse payout: Xander clears $1.3
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Tournament of Champions purse payout: Xander clears $1.3 million January 6, 2019 Brentley Romine Uncategorized Prize money payouts and FedExCup points breakdowns for all 33 players at the 2019 Sentry Tournament of Champions, including winner Xander Schauffele:
2019 Sentry Tournament of Champions purse, winner's share
There's a lot to look forward to. SISTER ACT: PART II: JESSICA AND NELLY KORDA. Tour titles when Nelly joined big sister Jessica in the winner's circle when Nelly won the Swinging
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Monahan sends memo to PGA Tour pros regarding rules pushback. Monahan has found himself in the role of peacekeeper following a particularly contentious week between the game's top players and
Joel Dahmen is 'the only idiot in the world' who didn't watch Tiger win the Masters. "I saw all the highlights. Sunday and Monday I just spent all day just catching up on the Masters stuff. I
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Tiger Woods is back to winning majors, but it is a once-overlooked amateur who appears to be in a position to become the heir to Tiger's throne as this generation's most dominant golfer.
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The reigning NCAA champion will be the player to beat in the inaugural Augusta National Women's Amateur. She comes into the championship in good form, having led Wake Forest to their second consecutive tournament win on Sunday at the Bryan National Collegiate, following the Tar Heel Classic the week before.
Freshman recovers from near fatal accident to make UH golf
Complete odds for the 2019 AT&T Byron Nelson, where Brooks Koepka is the favorite and Tony Romo is a huge longshot at 10,000/1. PGA odds: Koepka the new solo favorite at 5/4.
PGA odds: Koepka the new solo favorite at 5/4 - chatsports.com
A former Chicago police officer convicted of second-degree murder in the killing of an African-American teenager he shot 16 times received a dose of prison justice just days after Illinois
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