While the majority of the competitors at this year’s Masters Tournament will have at least one relative in attendance at Augusta National, cheering them on from outside the ropes as they bid to win the iconic Green Jacket, Edoardo and Francesco Molinari will be able to offer each other a different level of support.
The Italian brothers will become the first set of siblings to play in the same Masters field since Masashi "Jumbo" Ozaki and Naomichi "Joe" Ozaki joined forces at the 2000 edition of the season’s first Major Championship when they tee off next week.
Both Edoardo and Francesco are quite used to grabbing headlines together, as well as individually. Edoardo, the elder of the two by just under two years, got the ball rolling with a brilliant victory in the 2005 US Amateur Championship that enabled him to play in the 2006 Masters Tournament with his younger brother caddying for him.
A couple of months after Edoardo had made his Augusta debut alongside Tiger Woods, Francesco burst on to the scene back home in their native Italy as he ended a 26 year wait for a home victory in the Italian Open to spark football World Cup-like scenes of celebration at the Castillo di Tolcinasco Golf Club in Milan.
Talking of World Cups, the brothers Molinari, after outstanding individual performances throughout 2009, ended last year by combining perfectly to ensure the Omega Mission Hills World Cup trophy would go back to Italy for the first time in the country’s history after holding off the likes of defending Champions Sweden (Robert Karlsson and Henrik Stenson), Northern Ireland (Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy) and England (Ross Fisher and Ian Poulter).
The fact that I’ll be playing along with Francesco will be great for both if us,” said Edoardo, arguably the brother in form after his second place finish to Ernie Els at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week.
“We’ll be playing some practice rounds together, and trying to help each other out. It’ll be Francesco’s first time as a player. He caddied for me in 2006, and did a good job in keeping me calm and showing me the right line to take on some of the holes. So he knows the course a little bit. But he’ll probably be asking me a few questions.”
Francesco added: “When I caddied for Edoardo, I didn’t feel comfortable enough to give him much advice on the way round. I just concentrated on keeping out of the way, but obviously if he asked for my advice I was always happy to give it. It was a lot of fun, but nothing will compare to playing there myself.
“The atmosphere when you go to Augusta is absolutely unique. Perhaps only The Open at St Andrews comes close. It’s definitely one of the best places in the world to play golf – there’s no other place quite like it.
“My wife and our parents plus a lot of our friends and family are coming over to watch us play, so they’re all really excited too. We’ve got two different houses, because there’s so many of us going and it might get a bit cramped. But it’ll be great to have so many familiar faces around – it should be a special week, and hopefully I can play well.”
While the Molinaris may be grabbing the Italian limelight in the build up to The Masters Tournament, there is a third Italian competitor in the field next week: Matteo Manassero.
The 16 year old became the youngest ever winner of the Amateur Championship last year and in doing so qualified The Masters as well as last year’s Open Championship where he announced his arrival on the world stage, playing alongside Tom Watson for the first two rounds at Turnberry before winning the Silver Medal as The Open’s leading amateur player in a tie for 13th place.
“The fact that Francesco and I, and also Matteo Manassero are playing will be a big deal back home in Italy,” says Edoardo.
“It’s great for Italian golf, and we’ve got the Italian Open a month after The Masters, so hopefully we can keep the momentum going until then. You’ll probably be able to judge what effect we’ve had back home by how many people come to watch the Italian Open.
“I’ve played a few practice rounds with Matteo in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, and I think he’s going to be a great player. He’s a very normal, down to earth guy, and although he probably knows he’s going to be a great player, he’s still very willing to learn. He’s probably still a little bit short off the tee at the moment, but he’s still young so he will get greater distance when his body’s fully developed. When it does, he could be a superstar.”
