Edoardo Molinari won a dramatic Johnnie Walker Championship with three closing birdies at Gleneagles yesterday and then an hour later was jumping with joy again when he learned that it had earned him a Ryder Cup wild card. The 29-year-old Italian, whose brother Francesco was already in the team, was two behind Australian Brett Rumford with three holes of the final counting event to play. He two-putted the long 16th, sank a curling 30-footer at the 194-yard 17th and then hit a chip to within 18 inches of the final hole to add the title to the Scottish Open he won at Loch Lomond last month.
"I would have been happy a year ago to have enough money to keep my card by this time," Molinari said. "Colin (Montgomerie, the European Ryder Cup captain) told me he was proud of what I had done and I said 'thank you very much and I can't wait to get to Wales.' "It was quite an emotional moment for me because this means I will be playing with my brother and that is something that is almost unreal. Hopefully we can make as many points as we can for the team.
"I think I had to win to get into the team because I was up against so many strong players. I could tell from the way he said it that if I had finished second then it wouldn't have been good enough. "For two brothers to be playing in the Ryder Cup - at that level of sport - is an amazing achievement. "I said we wouldn't lose a point, so maybe four halves would do it!" He and Francesco were World Cup winners last November and, astonishingly, they played the final round together both at Loch Lomond and again yesterday.
Molinari's latest triumph left him one point short of automatic selection off the world points list, but that did not matter when he was called to see the captain after his win. It came with a one under par 71 in the windy conditions and a 10 under par total of 278. * Press Association
