Joining the greatest at Augusta National
By Bill Felber
The greatest Italian player ever
Given the modest history of golf in Italy, Francesco Molinari, the 2018 British Open champion, may already deserve the designation as that nation’s greatest golfer. But a Masters win would elevate Molinari among the game’s all-timers.
At present, Molinari’s peak rating is -0.94, just outside the top 200. It’s fueled primarily by that 2018 British win, but also by ties for second at the 2017 PGA, for sixth at the 2018 PGA, and for fifth at the 2019 Masters.
Plainly this is a guy with the potential to win any time.
Were he to emerge with the jacket at something around that -2.50 level, his peak rating would improve to about -1.08. That would land him between 180th and 185th on the all-time peak list, in company with fellow Major champions Charles Coody, Lew Worsham, Sandy Lyle, Ed Furgol and Gay Brewer.
Compared with some of the other players we’ve looked at, Molinari’s score suffers for two reasons. He has fewer high finishes in Majors, and Covid has given him fewer opportunities. In 2020, Molinari competed in just one of the three contested Majors, that being the Masters…and he missed the cut.
As a result, he has probably the steepest hill to climb of any of the players for whom the Masters might plausibly bring greatness.