Great Dane Olesen wins Italian Open thriller

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

Thorbjørn Olesen claimed a maiden Rolex Series victory at the Italian Open after a thrilling final round battle with Francesco Molinari and Lee Slattery.

The 28 year old needed a par at the last to secure his fifth European Tour title after home favourite Molinari sent the crowd wild with a birdie from 30 feet on the final hole, but the Dane made an excellent up and down from a greenside bunker to complete a final round 64 and 22 under par total.

That was one ahead of last week's Wentworth winner Molinari, with overnight leader Slattery third on 20 under at Gardagolf Country Club.

A bogey-free final round handed Olesen his biggest win of his career and the largest prize fund, with the 1,166,660 Race to Dubai points moving him to sixth position in the year-long Rankings.

The win also gives Olesen a boost in his hopes of making a maiden Ryder Cup appearance this September in Thomas Bjørn’s European team- with points earned in Rolex Series events multiplied by 1.5 - he now sits fifth in the European Points List and just outside the projected automatic qualification spots.

Slattery signed for a final round 67, with Spain’s Rafa Cabrera Bello's 66 enough for fourth on 18 under. Ryder Cup vice captains Lee Westwood and Graeme McDowell produced final rounds of 63 and 64 respectively to share fifth with England’s Andy Sullivan.

Player Quotes

Thorbjørn Olesen: “Unbelievable. Obviously been a little bit of a tough time for me this year. Yeah, to come into this Rolex Series and to do what I've done is amazing, especially to come-from-behind and win. I haven't done that in my career so far, so that was very special.

“I didn't make a bogey today. I had a couple of good up-and-downs, but I felt like I hit quite a lot of greens, as well. Obviously, there's a couple tee shots that I don't really like on this golf course, 15, 16, there's two of them and I've struggled all week but managed to make par, birdie.
“I was standing down there in the rough, and seeing him hole that long birdie putt, and in back of my mind, I thought bogey probably would make it to win, and then all of a sudden, I knew I needed to make four to win. That definitely made it tough, but it was nice to hole that putt on the last and to get that feeling of, yeah, holing it when it really matters.
“This is exactly what I needed. Well, it's always what we need but right now for me it's great.”

Francesco Molinari: “I'm super happy to be honest. It's been an amazing week. I think I'll never forget the run of birdies today on the back nine.

“Obviously, a shame about 17, but you know, I can't complain. I played well all week. The putt on 18 was just unbelievable. Well done to Thorbjørn, he's done great today and yesterday. A great winner for the Italian Open.
“My thought was just to give it a chance, get a good roll on it and try to get it to the hole. It's not really a putt that you think about making, but in those circumstances, you want to give it a chance. I struck it beautifully on a great nine. Sometimes, there's just something in the air that makes special things happen.
“I haven't played my best golf this week tee-to-green. I'm proud of the way I fought today. I was feeling a bit off. I gave it my best, and it's always easier if you have a good short game and you can hole a few putts.”

Lee Slattery: “I think Thorbjørn could have holed it from anywhere today. Under pressure I've seen him hole so many great putts today and I always thought I needed to make a two on the last, even when he knocked it in the bunker, I thought he was going to hole it, you just had that feeling about him all day. But yeah, delighted to finish 20-under par and finish third in a Rolex Series Event, that's a big steppingstone for me.

“Unfortunately my caddie, I hope he's all right, my caddie was struggling. He had a really bad back. Going up one of the hills, he was struggling to breathe a little bit and we switched caddies, which affected me a little bit. I'd like to say not for his sake, but I do think it affected me a bit. I hit a poor drive off the next and I didn't hit many poor drives today. Just cost me a couple of shots and they were crucial at the end.
“It's been a really slow start to the year, so after last week, a really disappointing Wentworth, to come here and play like I did and secure my rights for next year, there's so many things I've done this week in just one week. It happens to everybody, you have one good week and it can change your whole season, so hopefully that can change mine now.”

Final Scores

262 T Olesen (Den) 65 68 65 64,
263 F Molinari (Ita) 66 66 66 65,
264 L Slattery (Eng) 66 69 62 67,
266 R Cabrera Bello (Esp) 65 67 68 66,
267 L Westwood (Eng) 66 70 68 63, G McDowell (Nir) 66 66 71 64, A Sullivan (Eng) 67 68 65 67,
268 J Smith (Eng) 67 68 65 68, R Fox (Nzl) 69 68 67 64, D Willett (Eng) 65 67 67 69, I Poulter (Eng) 67 68 66 67, M Kaymer (Ger) 68 63 68 69, C Shinkwin (Eng) 66 71 67 64,
269 J Kruyswijk (RSA) 67 70 65 67, S Hend (Aus) 68 66 67 68, T Pieters (Bel) 65 67 69 68, L Gagli (Ita) 68 69 66 66, M Jiménez (Esp) 68 70 68 63,
270 H Li (Chn) 68 65 67 70, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 66 71 67 66,
271 O Fisher (Eng) 68 68 68 67, J Scrivener (Aus) 67 71 68 65,
272 A Noren (Swe) 70 68 66 68, C Ford (Eng) 65 71 67 69, A Bland (Aus) 70 66 71 65, J Morrison (Eng) 67 68 70 67, B Hebert (Fra) 70 68 66 68, B Dredge (Wal) 68 68 67 69, T Fleetwood (Eng) 68 67 69 68,
273 D Frittelli (RSA) 67 67 69 70, T Aiken (RSA) 69 68 64 72, G Fernandez - Castaño (Esp) 70 66 69 68, M Fitzpatrick (Eng) 66 70 71 66, P Dunne (Irl) 69 69 67 68, D Burmester (RSA) 70 67 66 70,
274 A Otaegui (Esp) 68 69 70 67, P Harrington (Irl) 71 66 69 68, M Manassero (Ita) 66 68 68 72, T Detry (Bel) 69 66 70 69, L Canter (Eng) 63 72 71 68, C Wood (Eng) 67 71 70 66,
275 J Dantorp (Swe) 68 65 72 70, A Johnston (Eng) 69 69 66 71, N Elvira (Esp) 69 69 68 69, D Howell (Eng) 69 66 71 69, M Schwab (Aut) 67 71 69 68, S Kjeldsen (Den) 70 68 68 69, B Rumford (Aus) 70 68 68 69, E Van Rooyen (RSA) 65 68 74 68, R Rock (Eng) 63 70 69 73,
276 E Pepperell (Eng) 67 71 66 72, J Geary (Nzl) 68 69 70 69, J Guerrier (Fra) 70 67 72 67, A Saddier (Fra) 68 67 70 71, H Porteous (RSA) 70 68 66 72, A Rai (Eng) 67 71 67 71, R McGowan (Eng) 70 67 71 68, A Connelly (Can) 69 68 71 68, M Wallace (Eng) 65 72 70 69,
277 R Evans (Eng) 67 69 70 71, T Immelman (RSA) 69 69 69 70, A Wu (Chn) 70 67 70 70, J Campillo (Esp) 68 68 70 71, F Zanotti (Par) 69 69 70 69,
278 D Lipsky (USA) 68 67 71 72, D Drysdale (Sco) 68 68 71 71, A Levy (Fra) 68 70 70 70, R Sterne (RSA) 63 72 72 71, B Stone (RSA) 69 69 70 70,
279 R Bland (Eng) 70 64 74 71,
280 W Ormsby (Aus) 66 71 67 76, L Bjerregaard (Den) 68 70 71 71,
282 D Brooks (Eng) 67 71 71 73,
210 D Fichardt (RSA) 66 69 75 0, G Green (Malaysia) 71 67 72 0, J Donaldson (Wal) 66 72 72 0, A Romero (Arg) 67 70 73 0,
211 D Im (USA) 66 70 75 0, G Havret (Fra) 68 69 74 0,
212 H Tanihara (Jpn) 67 67 78 0, P Hanson (Swe) 68 70 74 0, J Wang (Kor) 68 70 74 0,
217 S Jamieson (Sco) 69 69 79 0,