“I mean, not Tiger that Phil and Ernie and those guys had to deal with. It’s a different version,” McIlroy said. “But he’s right there. He’s right there. He’s getting himself in the mix. He looked good in D.C. a couple weeks back. He’s looked good here. [But] with the Tiger we have to face, he does things that maybe he didn’t do 10, 15 years ago. But it’s still great to have him back. It’s still great for golf. It will be interesting to see going forward, but this was his first taste of major championship drama, I guess, for quite a while. Even though he’s won 14, you have to learn how to get back. I’m relearning. I feel like I’ve won quite a few recently, but you still have to relearn to deal with it.”<doc-sep>CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Francesco Molinari of Italy won British Open 2018 on Sunday, July 22, at Carnoustie Golf Links in Scotland. Molinari, 35, finished 8-under to earn his first major title. Four players, including Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose, tied for second at 6-under. Tiger Woods, who briefly led on the back nine Sunday, tied for sixth at 5-under. He moved to No. 50 in the world ranking and qualified for WGC-Bridgestone Invitational 2018 in Akron, Aug. 2-5. BRITISH OPEN LEADERBOARD Molinari is the first Italian to win a major. He broke a streak of five major titles by Americans. He is the oldest major champion since Sergio Garcia (37) won Masters 2017. Woods secured his first top 10 in a major since the 2013 Open Championship (T-6). Entering the final round, defending champion Jordan Spieth, Xander Schauffele and Kevin Kisner were tied for the lead at 9-under. Molinari was 6-under. ROYAL & ANCIENT GOLF CLUB BRITISH OPEN Site: Carnoustie, Scotland. Course: Carnoustie Golf Links. Yardage: 7,402. Par: 71. Purse: $10.5 million. Winner's share: $1,890,000. Television (all times EDT): Thursday-Friday, 1:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 4:30-7 a.m. (Golf Channel), 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. (NBC); Sunday, 4:30-7 a.m. (Golf Channel), 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (NBC). Defending champion: Jordan Spieth. Notes: This is the eighth time the British Open goes to Carnoustie. ... For the last three champions at Carnoustie -- Padraig Harrington, Paul Lawrie and Tom Watson -- it was their first major championship. ... Tiger Woods returns to the British Open for the first time since he missed the cut at St. Andrews in 2015. ... Michael Kim earned the final spot at Carnoustie by winning the John Deere Classic. ... Justin Thomas, Justin Rose, Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm all have a mathematical chance to reach No. 1 in the world this week. ... Americans in their 20s have won the last five major championships, two of those by Koepka at the U.S. Open. ... Ben Hogan in 1953 is the only Open champion at Carnoustie to have the 54-hole lead. ... The Open has been decided by a playoff the last three times at Carnoustie. ... Harrington in 2007 and 2008 is the last player to successful defend in the British Open. ... Spieth has not won a tournament since his British Open title last year at Royal Birkdale. Next year: Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. Online: www.opengolf.com (Fact box from Associated Press.) SPOTLIGHT ON THEM: Here are 10 players whom DMan will be watching, regardless whether they are among favorites to win (World Golf Ranking in parentheses): Sergio Garcia (No. 19) Spaniard Sergio's first major victory came at the 2017 Masters; a year-long celebration ensued. The European Tour legend, 38, owns three Top-10's this season and loves to compete in The Open (10 career Top-10's). And Carnoustie owes him one. In 2007, the previous time The Open unfolded here, Sergio missed a short putt for the win -- how it didn't go down is beyond me -- on the 72nd hole. He lost to Padraig Harrington in a playoff. MISSED CUT Tiger Woods (No. 71) Woods, given his status as one of the greatest golfers ever, is must-see-TV every time he plays. Woods, 42, has been stuck on 14 major titles since prevailing at the 2008 U.S. Open in a playoff against Rocco Mediate. He has performed well in spurts during his latest comeback iteration; I really liked the ball-striking and course management en route to T-4 at Quicken Loans National three weeks ago. Phil Mickelson (No. 20) Lefty, 48, owns five major titles, including the The Open 2013 in a stunner. At The Open 2016, he was sensational in a duel with Henrik Stenson at Royal Troon, only to lose. Lefty's performances have been all over the map this season, and his recent disdain for the rules of golf figure to make him chum for the notoriously aggressive European media. He won't win, and easily could miss the cut, but the exit won't be quiet. Tommy Fleetwood (No. 10) England's Fleetwood, 27, is much more than flowing locks. He owns one overseas victory and three PGA Tour Top-5's this season, including second place at the U.S. Open. Oh, by the way: He is Carnoustie's course record-holder. Brooks Koepka (No. 4) Koepka, 28, is the quietest outstanding player the golf world has seen in a long time. If it is possible that the fourth-ranked golfer can be seriously undervalued, Koepka is he. In June, he won his second straight U.S. Open. When his wrists are sound, he has been a factor in other majors, too. Justin Rose (No. 3) England's Rose, for all his talent, has bagged just one major -- the 2013 U.S. Open. But Rose, 37, has been on the front page of plenty of major leaderboards at some point over the four days. He has won twice on the PGA Tour this season. In other words: Book him for contention this week. Ryan Armour (No. 105) Akron's Armour, 42, a product of Walsh Jesuit and Ohio State, makes his major-championship debut in the midst of a career renaissance. He has earned more than $2 million this season. This is his first-ever visit to Scotland. Here's hoping Armour, a class act and proud Northeast Ohioan, can shock the world the way Kent State product Ben Curtis did in winning The Open 2003. MISSED CUT Jordan Spieth (No. 6) Spieth, who turns 25 on July 27, won The Open 2017 in a final-day duel with Matt Kuchar at Royal Birkdale. Spieth owns three major titles. It does not seem possible that, overall, he has not won since The Open 2017. Perhaps it makes him that much more dangerous. Rickie Fowler (No. 7) Three words: He is due. Fowler, 29, will win a major, probably multiple majors, before he is done. No reason he can't get No. 1 this week. He is coming off a consistently solid showing at Scottish Open 2018 last week (T-6). Russell Knox (No. 49) I put Scotsman Knox, 33, on the list primarily because I watched on television two weeks ago as he won Irish Open 2018 in a playoff. He has the crowd support and mental makeup to deal with Carnoustie's endless challenges. He should feed off a grouping in the first two rounds that features Woods. MISSED CUT Carnoustie is known for its difficult track, which happens to be baked this year because of a scorching stretch of weather. Expect players to hit plenty of "stingers'' with long irons, so as to keep the ball low and controlled while sending it skipping along the rock-hard pan.<doc-sep>To get into a playoff for a spot in the U.S. Amateur's 64-man match play, Edoardo needed a birdie on his last hole, a par 3; from a bunker, he holed out. Then in the 36-hole championship match, he was 3 down after a rainy morning round. “My shirt was wet, so I asked in the pro shop if they had a magic shirt for a comeback,” Edoardo told Golf Digest's Dave Kindred. Dry and armed with a shirt with a Merion logo on the front, Edoardo birdied seven of 15 holes—using 18 putts—to win, 4 and 3.<doc-sep>
Francesco Molinari made history on Sunday, becoming Italy's first major champion by winning the British Open. Molinari's win came without an endorsement deal for his clubs aside from his putter, making him the third consecutive major champion to win without a sponsor dictating his club selection. Passing up sponsorship deals gives players more flexibility when it comes to filling out their bags, and it's possible that more players will follow suit. Francesco Molinari made history on Sunday, becoming Italy's first major champion after fending off Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and a slew of other heavy hitters to win the British Open and take home the Claret Jug. Molinari's game was exceptional, playing bogey-free for the final two rounds en route to a win over the field by two strokes. The win was even more impressive considering he did it while playing alongside Woods, one of the most intimidating golfers to be paired with when in contention. Molinari's win also continued a trend among major winners this year: playing with a mixed bag. As PGATour.com's Jonathan Wall noted, while Molinari has an endorsement deal with Bettinardi for his putter, he could fill the rest of his bag to his liking, as he is a free agent when it comes to his clubs. The same has been true of the previous two major winners. Brooks Koepka took home the US Open with a bag that included a TaylorMade driver and woods, Nike and Mizuno irons, and Titleist wedges, and Patrick Reed won the green jacket at the Masters playing with a Ping driver and a mix of Nike, Titleist, Callaway, and more filling out the rest of his bag. Aside from his Bettinardi putter, Molinari was playing with TaylorMade clubs at Carnoustie, but that doesn't take away from the most important aspect of being sponsor-free when it comes to filling your bag: the freedom to choose. As Jason Sobel wrote for The Action Network, there's a chance the trend becomes more widespread as the season goes on. There's hardly an easier check to cash in golf than sponsorship deals, and as long as you're playing regularly on tour, these partnerships can, in some cases, surpass the value of what some players would win for making the cut at a tournament. That said, every stroke matters when attempting to win the biggest tournaments in the world, and as this recent run of majors has shown, for some players a mixed bag might be the best way to get to the top of the leaderboard and be even more valuable to potential sponsors in the future. The winners of the past three majors have now beaten their respective fields with the help of a mixed bag and the freedom to choose the best clubs for them in every situation. While that might seem like leaving an easy check on the table, don't be surprised if you see more players doing the same.