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Francesco Molinari wins The Open: Full final round highlights

By Luke Norris

Italy's Francesco Molinari acknowledges the crowd at the end of his round on the 18th after making birdie during day four of The Open Championship 2018 at Carnoustie Golf Links, Angus. (Photo by Jane Barlow/PA Images via Getty Images)
Italy's Francesco Molinari acknowledges the crowd at the end of his round on the 18th after making birdie during day four of The Open Championship 2018 at Carnoustie Golf Links, Angus. (Photo by Jane Barlow/PA Images via Getty Images) /
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Here are the final round highlights from the 2018 edition of The Open Championship at Carnoustie.

So how much fun was that? On a wild day at The Open Championship from Carnoustie that saw a plethora of lead changes, ties and unbelievable storylines involving some of the top players in the world, golf fans were treated to a phenomenal Sunday. In the end, it was Francesco Molinari’s day, as he became the first-ever major championship from Italy.

Let’s take a look at the final round highlights from The Open.

Early in the day, former world number one Jason Day showed that there were birdies out there to be had on his way, making three in a row on his way to a final-round 68 to get into the top 20.

Before we get to the leaders, a big congratulations goes out to Sam Locke, who finished The Open Championship as the low amateur and will take the Silver Medal home with him. Sure, he was the only amateur to make the weekend and closed with a 78 but it was still quite a week for the youngster.

Tommy Fleetwood didn’t quite have the day he was hoping for but did get things going early with a birdie at the first on his way to a disappointing two-over round of 73. The Englishman finished his week at three-under, five back of Molinari.

Ahead of his round, playing alongside Tiger Woods, Francesco Molinari shared his game plan, and it worked out nicely for him.

As the leaders got going, it was just a whirlwind of lead changes and highlights and birdies and bogeys, and it was just a joy to watch.

With hopes of winning his first major, Kevin Kisner found trouble early and could never recover.

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Three-time Open champion Tiger Woods, who made a big charge up the leaderboard on Saturday with a five-under round of 66, got off to a nice start in the final round with pars at the first three holes and got to one-under for the day with a birdie at the fourth.

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Not wanting to get lost in the mix, 2014 winner of The Open, Rory McIlroy, kept himself in the tournament all day with great shots and putts, including this long effort to avoid dropping a shot.

Matt Kuchar, who had a chance to win The Open last year but had his chance thwarted by Jordan Spieth, was right there again at Carnoustie with another opportunity at that elusive major championship.

Tiger got to seven-under for the tournament with a birdie at the sixth and found himself at the top of the leaderboard by himself a short time later.

Jordan Spieth, who began his day at nine-under and tied for the lead, struggled on Sunday afternoon, making bogey at the fifth and a double at the sixth on his way to a final-round 76, a round that included zero birdies.

Alex Noren made a little run on Sunday but struggled coming in, finishing with a 74, six shots behind Molinari.

One of the craziest stories of the week was Justin Rose, who had to make a putt at the 18th on Friday just to make the cut and then found himself right there near the top of the leaderboard on Sunday with a strong chance to win the Claret Jug. Shots like this didn’t hurt.

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As the final groups made the turn, there was a five-way tie at the top as Xander Schauffele, the 2017 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, made a birdie at the 10th.

A long eagle at the 14th, along with two fist pumps from Rory McIlroy, only made things more exciting.

From there, words just can’t express how riveting the final holes of this championship were. What a great day to be a golf fan.

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With so many at the top, there could be only one winner, and that man was Molinari, who finished with a bogey-free round of 69 to win by two over McIlroy, Rose, Xander Schauffele and Kevin Kisner.

https://twitter.com/TheOpen/status/1021087917702287361

Congratulations to Italy’s first-ever major champion. We’ll see you in a few weeks for the PGA Championship.

NEXT: 10 best moments in the history of The Open

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