Molinari wins Italian Open for 2nd time, starts nationals streak

For the second week in a row, there was a home-nation hero on the European Tour.

Last week, it was Joost Luiten winning his national championship in the Netherlands, taking the KLM Open for the second time with a final-round 63.

This Sunday, Francesco Molinari won the Italian Open for the second time, becoming the first Italian-born player to win his national championship more than once since the event joined the European Tour schedule in 1972. Molinari outlasted Masters champion Danny Willett by a shot in Milan at 22-under 262.

Molinari shot 6-under 65 at Golf Club Milano, pulling four clear with six to play with a birdie on the 12th. It was at that point that Molinari’s game escaped him, while Willett surged. In the end, Molinari had just enough to finish the job.

“I had the ideal start, I couldn’t start any better,” Molinari said. “When I birdied 12 I got four shots [ahead] and thought maybe I could relax a bit and I got punished straight away. Coming in I had nothing left, I was just playing with my soul. I was hitting horrible shots but somehow I managed to bring it in.”

Molinari notched his fourth European Tour win, his first since winning the 2012 Spanish Open.

Though Willett didn’t win, European Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke has to be happy with the performance of his players who teed it up this week. Rafa Cabrera-Bello was T-12, Matt Fitzpatrick was T-16, and Martin Kaymer and Andy Sullivan finished tied for 20th place.

Lee Westwood, a captain’s pick making his 10th appearance at Hazeltine National in two weeks, was the only one not to make the cut.

Now the pressure is on Kaymer, who can make it three consecutive home-nation wins next week at the Porsche European Open in Germany.

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.

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