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WGC HSBC CHAMPIONS

November 7, 2010

Francesco Molinari

SHANGHAI, CHINA

Fourth Round 67 (-19) 269 Total.

SCOTT CROCKETT: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much. Francesco, what can we say, many, many congratulations. What a fantastic performance that was. It was great for us to watch. It must have been enjoyable for you to play, and just give us your thoughts as you now are the WGC - HSBC Champion.
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, obviously it feels great now. It was I think a great day of golf for everyone; for the two of us, me and Lee that were playing and for everybody who was watching. I'm obviously amazed the way I played, and you know, to have the No. 1 player in the world trailing you by one shot, it's not easy. I just played really well, and behaved really well on the golf course. So just feels fantastic now.
SCOTT CROCKETT: As you say, it's hard enough to win any tournament from the front, but with the world No. 1 on your heels, that must make it even more special.
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, absolutely. I was under pressure all the time, pretty much from the first round.
So as I said, it's great, not only the way I hit the ball, but the way the mind was working all week, I managed to stay calm and play my game, and, you know, holed putts when I had to hole putts.
I'm just really, really happy. It's been a long way coming. But a lot of people told me, "If you have to wait this among long, it's going to be a for a special one," and in the end, probably they were right.

Q. You've moved up to No. 15 or 14 in the world with that win, which is a big leap from No. 30. But you've proved on a difficult course here that doesn't suit you, that you are perhaps worth it?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, I don't know. That's for you guys to judge. But yeah, it's a great thing. Obviously moving up the World Rankings, it's always a goal for everyone.
And to be honest, at the beginning of the season, I had a good season last year; so the goal was to get in the top 20 for the end of the year. It was a tough goal, but I think I have done it now.
And I'm just really happy and I put a lot of work in the last few years to improve my game with Denis Pugh; with our Italian coach, Sergio was here this week, and he helped me out. So I need to thank him, as well. I just started working with Mark Roe recently on the short game, and I think you can already see the improvements in that.
So I'm just really, you know, looking forward to what's coming, because I showed today and all this week how I can play golf.

Q. After sort of dueling for four days for this tournament, was it a relief when that final putt dropped? And also, how great was it to see your brother there standing supporting you and applauding you?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, it was obviously great to see him there to congratulate me and to show me his support.
Yeah, it was a mix of feelings, a bit of relief, and obviously a huge boost of adrenaline. It's been, you know, four fantastic days, and especially the last two playing head-to-head with Lee was really tough.
I think the experience of playing with Tiger in The Ryder Cup definitely helped me in the last couple of days, because when -- obviously they are different players, but when you are playing against the No. 1 in the world, it is not easy to always stick to the game plan and do your own game.

Q. As you can see today on the field, you might find more supporters for Lee Westwood than Italian supporters for you. How do you feel about that?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: I think it's something you expect. Obviously he's the best in the world at the moment. So you know, he's always going to have more fans than probably everybody else. I don't think it was really a factor today.
I was happy to hear some Italian voices. Last night we went to have dinner in Shanghai with some Italian friends that live here and that were out there today on the golf course. So I had my little fan club. (Laughter).

Q. Just going back again, how proud are you, Francesco, to have come through a final round like that, against the No. 1, neither of you had any bogeys on your card; it's almost flawless golf, wasn't it?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, well, you know, when you're out on the golf course, I mean, I realise on the 18th that neither of us had a bogey, but when you're out there on the golf course, you don't really think about this stuff and you just really try to play shot by shot. And I know it's boring and a lot of guys said it before me, but that's what you need to do.
I think we were just, you know, going for every flag and trying to birdie every hole because we knew that pars weren't enough to win the tournament the way we were playing.
So I think the difference in score between us and the rest of the field shows you how good we played, and I'm sure it was a great show for everybody who was watching here and back home on TV, as well.

Q. You looked incredibly calm out there throughout the whole week. Were you calm inside? And second, was it like -- what would you consider to be the most important shot that you hit today? Was it a putt? Was it a drive? You saved par on 9. What was it for you?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: I mean, there were so many good shots today, it's not easy to pick one. But I think the turning point was definitely the 16th hole. Probably the second shot, I hit there. It put Lee under pressure, and his chip wasn't easy already, and with my ball close to the hole, it made it for him even tougher.
Yeah, I think I was quite calm all week, and you know, I knew I was playing well and I was putting well and I was feeling good about everything. So I tried to stay calm and obviously, you know, the first tee and the 18th and the last few holes are always a bit emotional.
But I think I handled myself pretty well, and maybe I wasn't as calm as I showed, but I was not too nervous at least.
SCOTT CROCKETT: Which club did you hit, the second shot?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Lob-wedge.

Q. We gather it's your birthday tomorrow, so we wonder how you might be celebrating. I'm sure this is a great prize. But what does this mean, also -- that's the first question. But what does this mean going forward? It's been four years since you won your first tournament. This must give the great belief for 2011 that you can achieve great things.
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, obviously it wasn't easy when you don't win for a few years and everybody keeps counting the weeks and the months and the years; it's not a nice feeling. So it's obviously a very big relief.
You know, I went close a few times this year, and it's just great to win another time in a special tournament like this with such a strong field the way I did it.
And about the birthday, I'll be flying to Singapore in a few hours, so I'll have a few drinks on the plane and just try to relax. And, I don't know, tomorrow we might have a little dinner in Singapore to celebrate the trophy and the birthday, as well.

Q. How inspired have you become or were you based on your brother's success earlier this season, and also Matteo Manassero winning two weeks ago?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Well, I think I was on Tour the last few years, basically, on my own as an Italian. There it weren't any other Italians. So it was very good to see them this year coming through.
And obviously when they won, I wanted to win, as well. But I had already -- before this week, I had already had a really good season and I was happy the way I was playing. So you know, I wasn't -- it was maybe a factor in the sense that, you know, it made me work a little bit harder because I wanted to contribute to the golden moment of Italian golf; not only with the second places and third places, but finally with the trophy.

Q. Italy is known for football; today you won a trophy here in a WGC event, but what if tonight Inter Milan would have won at the football field; do you think the headline would you be you or inter Milan?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Well, they were a draw yesterday, so the headline about Inter Milan was yesterday. (Laughter).
No, yeah, I mean, football, it's huge in Italy. We are trying to change it. You know, me and Edoardo and Matteo, we are doing our best to have news on the newspaper about golf, and I think we are doing quite well. So hopefully they will start talking a bit more about golf, as well.
SCOTT CROCKETT: Easy: Inter yesterday, Francesco today.

Q. There is a new rule about the US PGA TOUR, if you are not a US PGA TOUR Member, this is not considered as a US PGA TOUR win, so what do you think about that?
FRANCESCO MOLINARI: I'm happy. I mean, I'm a European Tour Member, I'm proud to be a European Tour golfer, and it's a great moment for European golf and I'm really happy to give my contribution to that.
Honestly, going to the States, it's not really a part of my plans at the moment. So I consider it -- I'm happy to consider it a European Tour win.
SCOTT CROCKETT: We are all very happy that it's a European Tour win. Many congratulations. Good luck for the rest of the season.

End of FastScripts

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