Molinari runs away with possibly the last Quicken Loans National

Francesco Molinari hadn’t played in the Quicken Loans National before, but the Italian native watched last year’s golf tournament on television. He liked the course and thought he might play well there.

As one of the few golfers who plays both on the PGA Tour and European Tour, he was faced with a decision over whether to compete on the French Open’s Ryder Cup course or the National at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm. Molinari chose the latter. He wanted to cement his standings in the FedExCup, a playoff system in August and September that takes the 125 top-ranked pros.

Molinari, 35, simply ran away with the National on Sunday, with an eight-under 62 round. He finished eight strokes ahead of second-place Ryan Armour and beat the four-round tournament record by seven strokes at 21-under 259. The previous lowest four-round score was 266 by Troy Merritt in 2015 when the event was at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville.

“I should watch more tournaments on TV, probably base my schedule on that,” Molinari said during the trophy presentation ceremony on the 18th hole.

Armour and three others earned spots to The Open Championship with their finishes. The others were Sung Kang, who placed third, Abraham Ancer, who tied with Tiger Woods for fourth, and Bronson Burgoon, who finished in a tie for sixth.

Molinari placed second in last year’s PGA Championship and won the HSBC Champions in 2010, a World Golf event in China. But the PGA Tour did not recognize the latter one at that time since a member had yet to win the tournament.

“When everyone was saying I never won on the PGA Tour, I felt like saying, well, technically, it was pretty much a PGA Tour tournament,” Molinari said. “It's just a formality, and I think it's different anyway to win on U.S. soil. That was obviously in China, and it's more international. It's just a different kind of event. So this win feels special.”

A key turning point was Molinari saving par on the ninth hole with a 15-foot putt. “It could have cut the lead to two if I dropped a shot there, so it was a very good putt of mine,” he noted. He then scored an eagle with an almost 50-foot putt on the 10th and ran off four consecutive birdies.

The heat in which temperatures neared 100 degrees was “probably as hot as I've experienced in my career,” Molinari said. “Everywhere where I could find some ice, I was trying to rub some ice on my face and trying to cool down, stay in the shadow.”

With the victory, Molinari became the first Italian to win a PGA event since the 1940s. “Obviously, there's been quite a few Italians winning on the European Tour, but it's nice to be the first in a long time to win over here,” he said. “It's one of the many reasons why I wanted to win over here so much.”

Ancer started the day tied for the lead with Molinari but could not keep pace. “It was a very frustrating round,” he said. “I felt like I hit it good enough to shoot under par and… I didn't make one putt, not one putt in 18 holes, so that was very frustrating. I hit a couple that I thought they were in and gave a good chance, and they just didn't go in. But that's how it goes. Yesterday, I felt like I made a bunch of putts.”

Woods, who is seeking his 80th career PGA win but hasn't obtained one since 2013, said he was pleased with how a new mallet putter worked for him. “I rolled the ball well this week,” he said. “It felt good to start my ball on the lines again. I'm starting to see it, starting to feel it, and I had the pace pretty much good all week.”

Several thousand fans followed Woods around, with significantly fewer watching what Molinari did. Woods acknowledged the support. “I'm sure it topped out over 100 degrees today. And they were out here supporting, walking around here, cheering for both myself and Bronson. And it was just a fun atmosphere to play in front of,” he said.

The highest-ranking golfer in the 120-player field was California native Rickie Fowler, who is eighth worldwide with $3.3 million earned in 2018. At 16th in the FedExCup standings, Fowler was also the top participant in those rankings. He finished the Quicken Loans event at 8-under for 12th place.

While Woods saw positives in his best finish in a tournament since March, the ending was bittersweet due to more than his fourth-place standing. Detroit-based Quicken Loans did not renew its title sponsorship of this event and plans to sponsor a PGA tournament next season in the Motor City. That leaves some believing it could be the last one for the National event that began at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda in 2007.

“It’s frustrating because this is a great sporting town,” Woods said. “This D.C. area, they support all their sports and have supported this event. Unfortunately, we just haven't been able to find a [new title sponsor]. We need a title sponsor in order to continue this event.”