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JOHNNIE WALKER CHAMPIONSHIP AT GLENEAGLESAugust 21, 2013Francesco MolinariGLENEAGLES, SCOTLAND STEVE TODD: We welcome Francesco Molinari. With four Top‑10s in seven appearances, obviously a place that you like and you've played well at. FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, I always enjoy coming back here. I think it was my first after Top‑10 on Tour here, so I've got good memories of that. We used to come‑‑ we came on holiday a couple of times with Edoardo and my parents when we were younger. So it's always nice to be back here, it feels almost like home. I'm looking forward to the week. STEVE TODD: You obviously had a Top‑10 finish in The Open, as well, so give a few words on your game coming into this week. FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, it feels in good shape. I think the season so far has been all right, probably not as good as I hoped for, but I think everything is coming together now. Yeah, Muirfield was a really good week. I enjoyed the course. I always enjoy playing in Scotland. It's good to be here. It's good crowds. Yeah, so everything is in good shape. We'll see, I had a week off last week, and I did some work in London yesterday and the day before with Denis, so hopefully I'll be ready for tomorrow. STEVE TODD: And obviously this is the last Johnnie Walker before The Ryder Cup comes here in 13 months' time. As one of the Medinah heros, do you go out there and sort of imagine yourself on this course playing The Ryder Cup? FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Well, yeah, obviously I wish to be here and I hope to be here next year.  I think it's going to be special, as always. It's going to be special playing The Ryder Cup at the home nation of golf. I'm sure the crowds will be fantastic. The course has changed a lot through the years and I think it's become a really good test. So, we'll see. Q. Four Top‑10s in seven appearances is pretty impressive. What is it about the course, is it simply it suits your eye? Can you explain a little bit in detail about why that is? FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, I think it's just‑‑ yeah, it suits my eye. I think it's usually quite windy here and I enjoy the challenge of playing in the wind. I seem to see the lines quite well on the greens for some reason. There's just some courses where you see them more easily. And then probably, yeah having played well in the past just builds your confidence. So every time I get back here, I know it's a place where I can do well and I look forward to being out on the course. Q. You obviously will be trying to qualify automatically, but having a record like that on this course will hopefully stand you in good stead if you do need a wild‑card in a year's time? FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, well, we'll see. It's a long time away. I managed to qualify automatically the last two times, so I'm hoping and I'm planning to do the same, and then we'll see. If things don't go according to the plan, we'll see next year who the captain picks. But yeah, it's nice to know that I have a good record on this track. Q. Have you played the course this week yet? FRANCESCO MOLINARI: No, not yet. Q. You've seen all the changes presumably? FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah. Q. Do you approve of all the new changes? FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, I think it's made 9 more difficult, the par5 used to be a bit more straightforward, now especially with the bunkers on the lay up, if you can't reach the green, you need to think a bit more about what you're doing. Yeah, 18, I thought was a good finishing hole before, but now it's definitely trickier. It's a much smaller target. So I think it's probably a more exciting finish; you can make 3, but you can make quite easily five or six as well. Q. How is your brother? FRANCESCO MOLINARI: He had surgery two weeks ago now in America on his left thumb. So he's just started physical therapy this week, Monday this week, and he'll have a few weeks of that. I think he's going to be back for middle of November, more or less, probably for the tournaments in South Africa. Q. Can you tell us more about the family holidays you used to enjoy at Gleneagles, what age were you, and what do you remember of it? FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Well, yeah, it was more of a tour of Scotland, but we stayed here I think a couple of days at least, because we played the Kings one day and we played the Centenary Course the other day, and it was just our family and another family and friends with a kid that was our age that used to play golf with us, Nicholas. We just went around Scotland playing golf, and obviously played here, so you know, it feels a bit more familiar when you've gone to a place not during the tournament week. Q. And how old would you have been? And what other places did you go to? FRANCESCO MOLINARI: I think I was probably 15, 16. So Edoardo would have been 17. Q. You've already played in The Ryder Cup as brothers at Celtic Manor, having played here as youngsters, what kind of good would it be to come here the two of you and play Ryder Cup next year? FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Well, it would be amazing. Obviously Edoardo has a really good record here. You know, it's not going to be easy for anyone but it's going to be hard for him coming from an injury. But he did it the hard way for Wales because he was coming off Challenge Tour, so we'll see. I'm sure it's in the back of his mind. Probably he has other things to think at the moment but it would be amazing for us to be on the team again together. Q. In something as personalised as a Ryder Cup, how helpful do you think it can be to have played a tournament, not just practise rounds, but a tournament on the course, where you have to hole putts and you have to make shots; and with that in mind, are you surprised that more guys have not played here already? FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Well, I think obviously it's a personal choice. It's never easy when you made your own schedule. There's obviously loads of tournaments and you need to miss some, but for me, I've always enjoyed this course, and I enjoy the place. So that's why I've always come to play in the last few years. I think, yeah, it can be a slight advantage having played so many years here and knowing the golf course quite well now. So we'll see. In the end of the day, it's a golf tournament and whoever plays the best golf wins. You might know the course better than others but you still need to be playing well those three days. Q. Do you have abiding memories from playing Gleneagles with a 15‑year‑old? It's quite an amazing place. FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Yeah, it struck me, but it was a great trip all over Scotland. I remember we played Turnberry and it was amazing. It was good to play so many good courses with Edoardo and the other kid, just having a game every day, and obviously playing here, we had a lot of fun on the kings course, because it's a beautiful course, not as tough as the Centenary. I think we played the second day on the Centenary Course, and it was fantastic to play there. Obviously we didn't know that we would have had success on the same course as professionals, but especially now, thinking back, it was quite a special week, yeah. Q. Can you remember what your handicap was at the time and also if you had any‑‑ well, did you have a hole in one? What did you do that was successful? FRANCESCO MOLINARI: I don't remember any shots to be honest with you. I think I've hit too many since then. I think we were‑‑ both me and Edoardo, we were probably around scratch, I would say. I don't remember exactly, but around that, yeah. Q. Is next year just another Ryder Cup, or is it more special because it's in Scotland, the Home of Golf? FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Well, I think every Ryder Cup is special for some reasons. I think the next one is going to be special because it's in Scotland. We know how much people here care about golf and I think it's going to be special for the place, as well, because it's a beautiful resort. It's a beautiful course, and especially for guys like me who have been here many years on Tour, I think they put up a really good event every year, so I think it's deserving that they got The Ryder Cup. Q. And how difficult is it going to be, even top players like yourself, to get on that team? And also, could you maybe pick out a couple guys you might see emerging as possible rookies? FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Well, there's always more young guys coming through. I think the selection criterias are very fair, so if you play good golf for the year, you're going to be on the team. As for rookies, being Italian, I obviously hope that Matteo makes the team. I think it would be a really good addition to the team. It would be nice to have maybe a Scottish guy, obviously Paul wouldn't be a rookie but there's guys like Marc Warren, as well, that have a chance to qualify. Q. Are you surprised thatMatteo is not here? FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Well, we were on holiday last week together in New York after the US PGA, and I think he's still on holiday with his girlfriend in the Caribbean, so I think he just needed some time off. He's only 20 and he's had a long season. I'm sure he's hoping to be back here next year. Q. Did you ever, during the quiet spell when it was all over last year, did you take a moment and sit and watch the video of what happened at Medinah, and what were your thoughts actually watching it, if you did? FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Actually I didn't watch the full coverage. I watched some kind of highlights of it. I think the more you watch it, the more special it gets, but at least for me, being up there on the course, I really want to keep the memories I have from being up there. So even without watching every shot that was hit, it's just good to have your own memories of what you heard on the course or what you felt on the course. Obviously they will be with me probably forever because it was a special week and a very special Sunday. Q. Football is ‑‑ where would you rank in terms of sporting heros in country? How big are you in your country? FRANCESCO MOLINARI: Obviously Italy is very football‑centered as you say, so there's not much room for other sports. But we've had our recognition, especially after we won the World Cup. I think that was really big in Italy, for people who don't have a huge golf culture, when you say World Cup, in any sport, it's perceived probably as the biggest achievement that there could be. I think that was a big step. And then obviously being together on The Ryder Cup, and The Ryder Cup being shown on TV, it was quite big, as well. But we can go easily walking down the streets without being recognised or anything like that. Probably in football, that would be‑‑ (laughter). STEVE TODD: Thank you very much. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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