RABAT – Edoardo Molinari came from four shots behind at the start of the final round to win a European PGA Tour event for the first time in almost seven years when he edged Irishman Paul Dunne at the first playoff hole to take the Trophee Hassan II on Sunday.
Italian Molinari, 36, stormed through with two eagles in his last seven holes to shoot 68 and tie the 24-year-old Dunne, who had a two-stroke lead at the start of Sunday’s final round, at 9-under-par after 72 holes at the Royal Golf Dar es Salam club in the Moroccan capital.
Dunne hit his tee shot on the playoff hole straight into the trees and missed a difficult putt for a bogey on the par-five 18th, allowing Molinari a short putt to clinch his first title since success at Gleneagles in 2010.
“It’s been a while now, I’ve been through some tough times in the last years. I felt my chances had gone after a bogey on the 16th, but then I got a birdie on the difficult 17th and a very exciting eagle at the last,” said Molinari, who has had several serious injuries.
Paul Waring of England finished third on 8-under, with Victor Dubuisson of France and Dane Lasse Jensen tied for fourth on 6-under.
The leading South African in the field was Trevor Fisher jun, who finished tied eighth after a final-round level-par 73 saw him end on 4-under.