Italian Edoardo Molinari enjoyed a successful amateur career before making the leap to the professional game in 2006.
He had a strong start to life as a pro with several Challenge Tour wins, before joining the European Tour where more success followed. There has also been a Ryder Cup appearance along the way, while he was a vice-captain at the 2023 match in his homeland.
Here are 20 things to know about the pro.
Edoardo Molinari Facts
1. Edoardo Molinari was born on 11 February 1981 in Turin, Italy.
2. He picked up the game aged eight when he began accompanying his dad to the golf course.
3. In 2005, Molinari became the first Italian to win the US Amateur.
4. That accomplishment earned him slots at the 2006 Masters, US Open and The Open. He missed the cut at the first two, but finished T68 in The Open.
5. Younger brother Francesco caddied for him at that year’s Masters at Augusta National.
6. Edoardo earned an engineering degree from the Polytechnic University of Turin
7. He turned professional in 2006, and his first victory came in the Challenge Tour’s Club Colombia Masters the following year.
8. He has since claimed three DP World Tour wins – the 2010 Barclays Scottish Open and Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, and the Trophee Hassan II in 2017.
9. The Molinari brothers won Italy's first World Cup of Golf title in 2009, when the pair beat Sweden and Ireland by one shot.
10. The pair then made history in 2010 as the first siblings to play together on a European Ryder Cup team.
11. Edoardo is affectionately called "Dodo" because Francesco couldn't pronounce "Edoardo" as a child.
12. In 2017, he attempted a 500-ball challenge to achieve a hole-in-one, but despite coming close with his first attempt, he couldn’t get an ace.
13. In 2019, Molinari went public about the issue of slow play in golf by sharing a list of players who had been timed for slow play on Twitter (now X).
14. The same year, he opened the Edoardo Molinari Golf Academy at the club he grew up playing at, Royal Park I Roveri in Turin.
15. Both Edoardo and Francesco were named as vice-captains for the 2023 European Ryder Cup team.
16. Molinari is known for his analytical approach to golf and that knowledge played a key role in Europe's win at Marco Simone.
17. Edoardo can recite an entire deck of cards by memory.
18. He is a supporter of Juventus soccer club.
19. He is fluent in Italian, English and Spanish.
20. Molinari’s best finish at a Major is T7 at the 2014 Open.
