Francesco Molinari: 'Open victory should get Italians cheering again
Carnoustie, Scotland (BBCSPORTS24)It's been a tough few months for the average Italian sports fan, watching on with envy as 32 other nations vied for the Russia 2018 World Cup.
Not since 1958 had the four-time champions failed to qualify for football's greatest showpiece, prompting the president of the country's football association to compare the outcome to "an apocalypse."
Francesco Molinari isn't a household name like the stars of the Azzurri, but the Italian golfer might just have put a smile back onto the faces of those reading Monday's back pages.
The 35-year-old from Turin held off several more established players on the links of Carnoustie this weekend, including a resurgent Tiger Woods, to win the 147th Open and make history.
Indeed the wait for something to smile about has been a whole lot longer for Italian golf fans, at least when it comes to the country producing a major champion.
Molinari is the first, thanks to his remarkably consistent closing run of 37 holes in a row without a bogey.
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