Edoardo Molinari, Italy


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Edoardo Molinari was born 11 February 1981 in Turin, Italy. He is a 2 time winner on the European Tour, 2005 U.S. Amateur champion, 2009 Challenge Tour Rankings leader, winner, with his brother Francesco, of the 2009 World Cup and a member of the 2010 European Ryder Cup team at Celtic Manor.

During a distinguished amateur career, Molinari won several national championships. The undisputed highlight of his amateur career came in 2005, when he became the first Italian and the first Continental European to win the U.S. Amateur. He claimed the title by holing a 25-foot birdie putt on the 33rd hole to win 4 & 3. As a result of that victory, Molinari qualified to play in the 2006 U.S. Masters, U.S. Open and The Open Championship. His younger brother Francesco, caddied for him at that year's Masters.

On 29 November 2009, Molinari partnered his younger brother Francesco to lead Italy to their first World Cup win at the Omega Mission Hills World Cup outside Shanghai, China. Edoardo leapt joyously around the 18th green after sinking the winning putt. This was the first win in the event by brothers and the first Italian victory in the event, generating significant coverage in the brothers' homeland. During 2009, Molinari's flew 705 places up the Official World Golf Ranking from 753 to 48.
On 11 July 2010, Molinari won his first European Tour tournament, claiming the Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond by three strokes over Darren Clarke. Francesco Molinari played alongside his brother and Clarke in the final threesome. Following Franceso's win in the 2006 Italian Open, Edoardo's victory in Scotland made the pair the third brothers to win on the European Tour.

Later that year, Molinari won his second European Tour title, the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, by one stroke, after birdieing the final three holes. Molinari's brother Francesco once again was paired with the eventual champion in the final round. Shortly afterwards, European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie named Molinari as one of his three "wild card" selections for the 2010 matches at Celtic Manor in Wales, along with Pádraig Harrington and Luke Donald. Molinari's brother Francesco also earned a place on the European team through the points list. The Molinari's are the first brothers to compete together in a Ryder Cup side since Bernard and Geoffery Hunt.

Molinari's successful 2010 campaign saw him rise to a career-high of fourteenth in the Official World Golf Rankings. Molinari finished the 2010 season ranked 11th on the Race to Dubai, formerly known as the European Tour Order of Merit. He finished the year ranked eighteenth in the world.

Career Wins;

Jul 2010 - Barclays Scottish Open
Aug 2010 - Johnnie Walker