Former Open winner is back in contention on the PGA Tour and it’s great to see

Injuries have plagued Francesco Molinari over the past few years but now he is back where he belongs: on the front page of the leaderboard.

For the first time in what seems like eons, the 2018 Champion Golfer of the Year finds himself on the front page of a PGA Tour leaderboard.

Francesco Molinari, the first and only Italian to ever win a major, posted a 5-under 66 on Friday and now sits at 8-under par at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship. He made six birdies, and his only bogey of the day came on the challenging seaside par-3 16th, where he failed to get up and down from the rough. Molinari is now four strokes back of leader Justin Lower, who has carded a pair of 65s on days one and two.

“It was very consistent. I think iron play in general was very good, I gave myself lots of chances,” Molinari said of his second round.

“Hit a really good 4-iron on 13, the downhill par 3, to about five feet. It was probably the best shot of the day.”

Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images

Injuries have plagued Molinari over the past few years, which helps explain why he only has four top 10s since 2020. It seems like a pivotal point in Molinari’s career came on the 12th hole at Augusta National on Sunday, Apr. 14, 2019. While playing alongside Tiger Woods and Tony Finau in the final pairing that day, Molinari held a two-shot advantage over Woods when they arrived on the 12th tee. But Molinari found Rae’s Creek, which led to a double. He hit it into the water three holes later on 15, ending his chances and surprising the entire golfing world.

Roughly nine months earlier, at Carnoustie in Scotland, Molinari proved to the world that he could win the big one. He fended off Woods, Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, and others en route to winning the Claret Jug. He also went 5-0-0 at the 2018 Ryder Cup that September, the first player ever to do so. So when The Masters rolled around the following April, Molinari had become a villain of sorts to American golf fans. It also seemed he would stymie Woods again at Augusta and leave nostalgic golf fans to ask, “What if?” again. But he paid the ultimate price for taking on Rae’s Creek.

Nevertheless, more than five years later, Molinari finds himself contending in Bermuda, the first time he has been remotely close to the leaders all season. Of the 13 events he has played in 2024, Molinari has made only five cuts, with his best finish coming at the Genesis Scottish Open, where he tied for 46th. The last few years have followed a similar yet unfortunate trend, but knowing what Molinari has had to endure, including injuries to his back and wrist, golf fans have to love seeing his name on the leaderboard again.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.