Francesco Molinari says winning the Claret Jug hasn’t changed him

Even though he’s the defending champion and re-wrote the record books in last year’s Ryder Cup, you get the feeling that Francesco Molinari is flying under the radar a bit heading into this week’s 148th Open Championship.

Defending Open champion Francesco Molinari of Italy with the Claret Jug. Picture: Andrew Redington/Getty Images

“Maybe part of it is my personality, not really caring too much about being in the spotlight,” he observed. “Part of it is being Italian. An American or British player is always going to naturally get more attention. I don’t mind that, it can only be good for myself as there is a little less pressure from the outside. I don’t mind it at all.”

Though he may be on the quiet side and a bit shy off the course, the 36-year-old from Turin let his golf do the talking at Carnoustie 12 months ago as he shot brilliant bogey-free closing rounds of 65 and 69 at Carnoustie to hold off a chasing pack that included Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose.

Buoyed by that effort, he then became the first European player to win five matches out of five in the Ryder Cup at Le Golf National near Paris in helping Thomas Bjorn’s team hammer a star-studded United States side and had fans signing his name as he headed home to London through Gare du Nord train station in the French capital.

“I enjoy the support of the crowds and something like the Ryder Cup last year wouldn’t have been the same without the involvement of the crowd, walking through the station in Paris. That stays with you forever and you never forget,” he said.

“I enjoy my time on the range and the course, preparing, and one of the challenges for me has been to balance the more time doing other stuff as it is less time preparing or with your family. Family comes first and then I feel like I need to work hard to perform at a high level. It is never going to be you get all the results and no attention, it is about finding the right balance but for me it is about less attention than the other guys.”

Has becoming a major winner – the first Italian to do the trick – changed him as a person? “No, I wouldn’t think so. I’m still trying to be myself,” he insisted. “I’m still trying to give time to fans when I can. The first thing for me is giving time to my family and my kids, it is finding a balance. I don’t think it has changed me as a person, or changed the amount of time I give to other people even though I’ve had more requests.

“Hopefully I’ve done a decent job of keeping a 
balance to make everyone happy. My first duty is to 
my family and when I have done that I don’t have any problem sharing my time with fans or the media or other people. I try to do the job as best I can.”

Molinari, who is bidding to become the first player to successfully defend the Claret Jug since Padraig Harrington did the trick 11 years ago, could easily have been heading to Royal Portrush as the Masters champion. Having played brilliantly for three-and-a-half rounds, he was on course to win the opening major this season before coming a cropper in Amen Corner and opening the door for Tiger Woods to secure a sensational success.

“For me having the Claret Jug and winning a major not long before already told me I was able to do it,” he reflected on that disappointment. “In some ways, it might have made the disappointment a little bit bigger: at that time I wasn’t able to close it out. But, to be honest, I don’t think it would’ve changed a lot.

“In any sport, it is never easy to take a loss like that, but you try to analyse what happened and try to move on and ideally put yourself in that position again as soon as possible to prove you can do better than you did that time.”

Woods played 18 holes yesterday with Patrick Reed in his first practice round at Royal Portrush, where the Claret Jug event is being held for the first time since 1951.

“A lot of movement. A lot of decision off the tees, angles,” he said afterwards in an interview with espn.com. “With the wind switching and coming out of the south in the future, a lot of these shots we hit today are useless.

“Trying to figure out what lines to take, what lines to take on, what lines not to take on. And then these green complexes are so complicated, you have to miss the ball in the right spot.”