Francesco Molinari came from five shots back to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational by two shots over Matthew Fitzpatrick. His 8-under par round featured four birdies on each side of the Bay Hill Club & Lodge layout against no bogeys.
“I tried to be aggressive from the start and it was nice to see quite a lot of putts dropping, especially for my standards,” Molinari said. “I think it’s been the best putting round ever in my career. And it’s nice to do it, obviously in those circumstances, at Arnie’s place.
“And I don’t know, there must be something going on with that line (on 18) because it seems that a lot of guys winning the tournament make that putt.”
Molinari announced an equipment change to Callaway earlier in the week in Orlando, and his new equipment didn’t require long to take him to the winner’s circle. It was Molinari’s fourth win in his last 12 PGA Tour starts.
What’s In His Bag
Driver: Callaway Epic Flash Sub Zero prototype (9°; Mitsubishi Tensei CK Blue 70 shaft)
3-Wood: Callaway Epic Flash Sub Zero (13.5°; Mitsubishi Tensei CK Blue 80 shaft)
Driving Iron: Callaway Apex (20°; Mitsubishi Tensei shaft)
Irons: Callaway Apex Pro 2019 (4-iron; True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100)
Callaway Apex MB prototype (5-PW; True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Wedges: Callaway Mack Daddy 4 (50°, 56°; True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shaft)
Callaway Mack Daddy 4 (60°; Nippon N.S. Pro prototype shaft)
Putter: Odyssey Toulon Madison Stroke Lab
Golf Ball: Callaway Chrome Soft X “diamond” prototype
Most Valuable Club: Odyssey Toulon Madison Stroke Lab
While Molinari’s ball striking has always been next-level, it was his work on the greens that got the job done at Bay Hill, especially on Sunday. Molinari finished the final round by picking up more than four strokes on the field average, which vaulted him up the strokes gained: putting ranks to No. 4 for the week.
He made every putt inside 15 feet on Sunday and 146.5 feet of putts in total, over a third of which came on the 72nd green when he rolled in that 50-footer for birdie.
[Club info via PGATour.com]
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