Who needs Ferrari? Italy has Molinari

CARNOUSTIE, Scotland (Reuters) – Francesco Molinari was only halfway when he said that he had not won the Grand Prix in Hockenheim.

The 35-year-old became the first to win a major when his two-under-by-round of 69 helped him eclipse the likes of Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth we have nerve-jangling final day around Carnoustie.

Only 14 of the 79 players on breezy Sunday shot a sub-par round but he churned out by after by before birdies at the 14th and 18th birthday at the Claret Jug.

Molinari said: "It depends. Ferrari won today? If they won, they'll probably get the headlines. "

As it was Ferrari did not win and with the Italian soccer team missing the World Cup, golf might just have a chance to thrust itself out of the shadows.

"Obviously, to achieve something like this is on another level," he said. "Hopefully, there were a lot of young kids watching on TV today, like I was watching Costantino (Rocca) in '95 coming so close. Hopefully, they will get inspired by the life of the Claret Jug. "

Rocca famously lost to the American John Daly having an incredible success of the so-called" Valley of Sin " in 1995.

Molinari prevailed, having managed only three top-10 finishes in his 35 previous majors.

Despite having won two of his last five tournaments in the build-up to Carnoustie, Molinari was considered an outsider.

He said the lack of spotlight on him – especially when he was playing alongside a bush. While others were losing their cool, Molinari simply buckled down and cranked out a winning score.

"Clearly, in my group, the attention was not really on me, let's put it that way," Molinari, who rocketed from 15th to sixth in the world rankings and clinched his place in Europe's team for the Ryder Cup in France in September, said.

"If someone was expecting a load, probably they were not expecting it from me, but it was the same the whole of my career. I do not really care too much about it.

"I care about the people around me, the work that we put in. They have done so much in the past. "

In 2010 Molinari and his elder brother Edoardo became the first brothers in the Ryder Cup since 1963.

Edoardo has since suffered with wrist and hand and a year ago when he won the Hassan II Trophee in Morocco.

The new Open champion said he would have hoped for a victory in his golfing world in 2009.

"I would love to get back to where he was a few years ago, "he said. "Golf is a tough beast. He's experienced some bad injuries and two hand surgeries, but he's come back.

"I'm sure this will be successful in the game of golf in the future."

(This refiled version of the story is correct in Rocco's first name in paragraph six).