Francesco Molinari isn’t any different from the other guys who play golf for a living.
It’s all about the putting when you’re already a world-class player.
Molinari has played decent at times this season as he splits his time between the PGA Tour and the European Tour. Ranked 34th in the world he’s the younger brother of Edoardo, both household names in Italy.
With four European Tour wins and one WGC victory, Francesco has never won a regular PGA Tour event but he got going in the right direction on Thursday at the Wells Fargo.
Molinari came up with eight birdies thanks to just 25 putts and a pair of chip-ins. His 66 led the field after day one at scenic Eagle Point, subbing for Quail Hollow. “I’ve been playing really well,” Molinari said after his round. “Obviously today I made a few more putts than maybe the last couple of months.”
It is a course that doesn’t favor any one style of play and the leader board supported that.
Right behind Molinari was fellow European Alex Noren, who headed a group of four players at 67. J.B. Holmes was the only bomber in that group of four. Throw in Grayson Murray and Brian Campbell and it was easy to see that anyone playing well could score on this venue basically no one is familiar with.
Dustin Johnson made his way back after a four-week layoff following his slip-and-fall that took him out of The Masters. After a great start, D.J. found a couple of second-nine bogeys and finished with a two-under par 70.
The full field was able to complete the first round as bad weather was moving into the Wilmington area. It stuck around Friday morning and delayed the start of round two.
