Edoardo Molinari Biography

Edoardo was born in Turin on the 11th February 1981. During a distinguished amateur career, he won several national championships, the highlight coming in 2005, when he became the first Italian to win the U.S. Amateur Championship. He won by holing a 25-foot birdie putt on the 33rd hole to win 4 & 3 over the American Dillon Dougherty. As a result of this win, Edoardo qualified to play in the 2006 U.S. Masters, U.S. Open and British Open. His younger brother Francesco Molinari,who is also a professional golfer, caddied for him at that year's Masters. Edoardo continues to represent his home club, Circolo Golf Torino.

Edoardo turned professional in 2006, after graduating from the Polytechnic University of Turin with a degree in engineering. In 2007 he won two competitions on the Challenge Tour: the Club Colombia Masters and the Kenya Open. This enabled him to play on the European Tour during the 2008 season, but his play was uneven during that season, and he was unable to retain his playing privileges in 2009.

Edoardo returned to the Challenge Tour in 2009, where he was again successful, winning the Piemonte Open in May, in his home town of Turin. He also won two more competitions: the Kazakhstan Open in September and the Italian Federation Cup in October. He came top of the Challenge Tour money list in 2009 with record earnings of ?242,979, and his world golf ranking rose from 753 to the Top 50.

On 22 November 2009, Edoardo won the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament in Miyazaki by defeating Robert Karlsson of Sweden by sinking a four-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole. Edoardo was the first Italian winner on the Japan Golf Tour. On 29 November 2009, Edoardo partnered his younger brother Francesco to lead Italy to their first World Cup win at the Omega Mission Hills World Cup, Shanghai, China.

On 11 July 2010, Edoardo won his first European Tour tournament, the Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond, by three strokes over Darren Clarke. On 29 August 2010, Edoardo won his second European Tour title, the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, by one stroke from Australian Brett Rumford, after birdie-ing the final three holes. Colin Montgomerie, the European Ryder Cup captain named Edoardo as one of his three "wild card" selections for the Ryder Cup 2010 along with Pádraig Harrington and Luke Donald. Edoardo?s brother Francesco also earned a place on the European team through the points list. The Molinaris are the first brothers to compete together in a Ryder Cup side since Bernard and Geoffrey Hunt played for the Great Britain and Ireland side in the 1963. Edoardo's win at Gleneagles elevated him to a career-high ranking of fifteenth in the Official World Golf Rankings.