Francesco Molinari was, for the umpteenth time, trying to convey the depth and breadth of the team effort it took to win the Ryder Cup for Europe when the chirp of a north of England voice went up in the background to break his stride. "Oh, get over yourself will you?" shouted Tommy Fleetwood. "So arrogant. So arrogant."
Molinari walks out of his third Ryder Cup a made man. He is the first European ever to win all five matches at a Ryder Cup and the first player on either side to do it since Lanny Wadkins in 1979. When someone asked him afterwards was he tired, Sergio Garcia piped up to ask him was he aware that Le Golf National actually had 18 holes on it. Molinari won all five matches without seeing the 18th all week. "I think I played it on Tuesday," Molinari smiled.
“This means so much. So much more than majors, more than anything. You know, it’s hard not to get emotional when you think about the other players, the vice-captains, Thomas [Bjorn], the wives. It’s been an incredible week. Obviously they had probably the strongest team ever and were just so good.
“I just try to do things, be professional and obviously I had an amazing partner all week in Tommy [Fleetwood]. Never felt like I had a rookie playing alongside me. It’s been amazing, and today, it was just hard to get the energy. It’s been a long week, playing five matches, but you know, again, I stepped it up when I had to.”
It was entirely appropriate that Mickelson ended his week by plonking his tee shot on the 16th in the water
The transformation of Molinari from a solid, nutty, unspectacular pro to one of the game’s pre-eminent players has been hard to fathom. This is his 14th season as a tour professional and for most of it he has been a jobbing, journeyman player, capable of a win every other year and a down-the-page straggler on Ryder Cup teams past.
He went to two Ryder Cups without leaving a trace, playing six matches at Celtic Manor and Medinah without winning any of them. He leaves Paris a perfectly formed Ryder Cup legend, with a record that will outlive him and everyone else that came through the gates this week.
He wasn't just as dominant in his singles match against Phil Mickelson as he had been all week alongside Fleetwood but thankfully for him, he didn't have to be. Mickelson was easily the worst performer on either side all week and he started out with three bogeys in the first five holes.
Molinari was level par for his round after 13 holes and was still two-up – against anyone other than Mickelson or the oddly out of sorts Jordan Spieth, Molinari would have probably found himself behind at that stage. It was entirely appropriate that Mickelson ended his week by plonking his tee shot on the 16th in the water. Not only did it sum up his Ryder Cup, it handed Molinari the moment that pushed the European total up to 14 ½ points. Nobody deserved it more.
“I’ve been part of another two winning teams where I didn’t bring full points, and I’m glad after I’ve been carried on the shoulders by some of these guys to give something back,” said Molinari. “But it’s about every one of these guys, the vice-captains. It’s just the best team I’ve ever been part of by miles.
“I have been on two winning teams doing a little bit but not a lot. And my record was pretty shocking, really, coming into this week. So statistically, there was a good chance of winning some points.
“I’ve been kind of carried by the other guys the other two times I was on the winning side and it was about time to help them and do a good job. But it’s really not about the individual. It’s about the group. It’s incredible.”
