Published July 17, 2008 on June 4, 2018

Olesen Holds off Molinari to Complete Italian Job

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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 the biggest win of his career and the largest prize fund, with the 1,166,660 Race to Dubai points moving him to the 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.

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 (Mas) 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,
139 S Heisele (Ger) 71 68 0 0, F Bergamaschi (Ita) 71 68 0 0, G Bourdy (Fra) 70 69 0 0, F Aguilar (Chi) 70 69 0 0, R Fisher (Eng) 65 74 0 0, T Jaidee (Tha) 71 68 0 0, M Korhonen (Fin) 68 71 0 0, S Gros (Fra) 71 68 0 0, C Syme (Sco) 68 71 0 0, C Hanson (Eng) 71 68 0 0, M Southgate (Eng) 71 68 0 0, M Warren (Sco) 68 71 0 0,
140 M Ilonen (Fin) 70 70 0 0, G Migliozzi (Ita) 72 68 0 0, A Chesters (Eng) 67 73 0 0, R Gouveia (Por) 72 68 0 0, S Gallacher (Sco) 69 71 0 0, J Choi (Kor) 71 69 0 0, A Björk (Swe) 71 69 0 0,
141 P Oriol (Esp) 70 71 0 0, S Horsfield (Eng) 69 72 0 0, M Kinhult (Swe) 69 72 0 0, C Koepka (USA) 72 69 0 0, A Quiros (Esp) 71 70 0 0, C Paisley (Eng) 71 70 0 0, R Ramsay (Sco) 67 74 0 0, P Khongwatmai (Tha) 69 72 0 0, G Coetzee (RSA) 70 71 0 0, J Norris (Aus) 69 72 0 0, T Hatton (Eng) 72 69 0 0, A Pavan (Ita) 69 72 0 0,
142 M Foster (Eng) 71 71 0 0, N Bertasio (Ita) 69 73 0 0, L Cianchetti (Ita) 69 73 0 0, L Jensen (Den) 70 72 0 0, R Wattel (Fra) 71 71 0 0, C Sordet (Fra) 69 73 0 0, N Colsaerts (Bel) 74 68 0 0,
143 F Laporta (Ita) 71 72 0 0, R Jacquelin (Fra) 68 75 0 0, M Fraser (Aus) 74 69 0 0, A Dodt (Aus) 72 71 0 0, M Pavon (Fra) 72 71 0 0, J Lagergren (Swe) 68 75 0 0, P Waring (Eng) 68 75 0 0,
144 P Widegren (Swe) 69 75 0 0, M Kieffer (Ger) 71 73 0 0, D Horsey (Eng) 72 72 0 0, E Molinari (Ita) 76 68 0 0, C Bezuidenhout (RSA) 73 71 0 0, S Brown (Eng) 71 73 0 0, S Chawrasia (Ind) 73 71 0 0, J Winther (Den) 69 75 0 0,
145 J Heath (Eng) 72 73 0 0, M Siem (Ger) 72 73 0 0, S Brazel (Aus) 70 75 0 0,
146 R Cho (Kor) 71 75 0 0, R Karlsson (Swe) 70 76 0 0, T Pulkkanen (Fin) 74 72 0 0, B Neil (Sco) 73 73 0 0,
147 S Lee (Kor) 70 77 0 0, S Fernandez (Esp) 71 76 0 0, J Vecchi Fossa (Ita) 74 73 0 0,
148 P Angles (Esp) 73 75 0 0, N Geyger (Chi) 74 74 0 0,
149 F Maccario (Ita) 75 74 0 0, O Farr (Wal) 77 72 0 0, E Di Nitto (Ita) 74 75 0 0,
150 M Baldwin (Eng) 75 75 0 0,
151 R Paratore (Ita) 73 78 0 0, C Pigem (Esp) 72 79 0 0,
155 Z Lombard (RSA) 78 77 0 0,
** P Larrazábal (Esp) 69 RT 0 0,