Molinari’s Hot Putter Makes Him First Italian U.S. Amateur Champion

By Ken Klavon, USGA

Ardmore, Pa. – Here he was, a stranger in a foreign land, mowing down the field the way a scythe cuts through oversized weeds.

Edoardo Molinari acknowledges the gallery after his 4-and-3 victory over Dillon Dougherty on Sunday. (John Mummert/USGA)

A no-namer to most, 24-year-old Italian Edoardo Molinari had the wherewithal to withstand adversity and channel his inner thoughts the way most champions do. There was no panic, no doubt and certainly no hysterics when he found himself 3 down at the 18-hole break Sunday at Merion Golf Club.

Through the first 18, he played the East Course to the tune of 5 over par, although he lipped a couple of putts. Entering the intermission, his greatest worry wasn’t the deficit but how to stay dry. He had run out of shirts because he had brought one suitcase with him this week, and the one he was wearing was drenched from the morning showers.

He walked off the 18^th hole and headed directly to the pro shop "and I asked Scott (Nye), the guy in the pro shop, for a magic shirt and probably he gave me the right one," said Molinari. Maybe that was the reason why he carded seven birdies, taking 18 putts on the final 15 holes.

Anyone know how to say hot putter in Italian? How about bon putter.

Molinari, who will graduate with an engineering degree in a few weeks, erased Dillon Dougherty’s lead by the 23^rd hole. That’s when Dougherty had to stand helplessly by and watch the show. Molinari dropped in a 6-footer to square things before babying in a 7-foot downhill putt on No. 25 for his first lead.

On the par-3 ninth from an elevated teeing ground, Molinari dropped his ball 30 feet below the hole, leaving a treacherous putt. He stepped up and nailed it, pumping his arm high in the air.

The crescendo, and maybe the blow that pierced Dougherty’s morale, came two holes later when Molinari went 3 up. Molinari rolled in another 30-footer from the edge of the fringe to Dougherty’s chagrin. All Dougherty could do was shake his head and laugh. He muttered something to Molinari as they passed on the green and the two shared a smile.

"You don’t expect a guy to make that many putts in a U.S. Amateur final," said a crestfallen Dougherty, who was even par over the final 15 holes. "I just felt like every putt he had was going in, and pretty much almost every one did.

"I kept hoping for an opportunity, for him to just make par when I had a good chance at making birdie and he would make it. So after that on 11 [hole 29], I didn’t feel like it was over, but I felt like, ‘Man, this is getting a little ridiculous.’"

Molinari agreed.

"Yeah, that looked crazy to me as well," said Molinari. When told of his putting statistics in the afternoon, all he could say was, "That’s pretty good."

He even offered a pseudo apology to Dougherty.

"The way I played today was once in a lifetime probably," said Molinari during the trophy presentation before turning toward Dougherty. "I’m sorry I played that well today."

When gravity pulled in his 15-footer on the finishing hole for yet another birdie, Molinari shook Dougherty’s hand and took a minute to applaud the gallery. Being the first Italian in history to win the event didn’t exactly leave him with a script to follow.

His misty-eyed 57-year-old father, Paolo Molinari, who would be with him every step of the way -- albeit hanging out in the shadows -- emerged to offer his congratulations. Good thing golf is an aerobic sport, because the elder Molinari paced much of the final two matches like a father expecting a newborn.

Besides his father, there was the middle-aged olive-skinned compatriot behind sunglasses who would congratulate him in the native tongue after each match he’d won. Then the man would disappear. He proudly reappeared on the green after Molinari’s win, saying he had heard of him at the British Open and decided to come out to support him.

"He is the first Italian to do it," said the mystery man, Antonio Logioia, who moved to the United States in 1994 from a town in southern Italy. "It is great for Italy."

His father, meanwhile, called it destiny. How else could someone explain it? Molinari went from catching the first flight back to Italy via Philadelphia and Munich on Tuesday to willing himself into match play. It took an unearthly hole-out from a bunker on No. 9 at Merion during stroke-play qualifying just to join a 19-for-17 playoff. Now, he becomes the first playoff champion since Nick Flanagan in 2003.

His father, who attended dental school at the University of Southern California, called his mother, Micaeli, back home to tell her of the news.

"She was like me, without words," said papa.

Now he and dad, strangers a week ago, will leave Monday more recognized than before, flying close to 10 hours with two layovers, heading back to Torino with a dream fulfilled. With the goods.

Ben giocato, Edoardo. Well played.

Ken Klavon is the Web Editor for the USGA. E-mail him with questions or comments at kklavon@usga.org.