Staff WriterThe DS Automobiles 83° Open d’Italia began with a distinctly Italian flourish in Turin, as Edoardo Molinari tore around Circolo Golf Torino in a course-record 63 to take the first-round lead and remind everyone that local knowledge is rather handy when the local happens to know every blade of grass by its first name.
Molinari, playing his home course, looked less like a man feeling his way into a tournament and more like someone popping out for a familiar walk with a scorecard attached.
At 45, and after surgery last August, his eight-under-par opening round had all the ingredients of a proper old-fashioned golf story: early fireworks, a wobble, a reset, a grandstand finish and, somewhere in the background, a physio probably wondering whether to laugh, cry or invoice by the miracle.
Molinari Makes Circolo Golf Torino His Stage
The Italian opened with three birdies in three holes, which is the golfing equivalent of entering a room by kicking the doors off their hinges. Two bogeys then threatened to inject a little ordinary human frailty into the performance, but Molinari steadied himself with three shots gained around the turn.
Then came the flourish. Four birdies in his final five holes lifted him to eight under par, past the previous course record of 64 set by Yuta Ikeda in 2006, and into a lead that felt as much emotional as numerical.
There was also a practical incentive. Molinari’s 63 put him at the front of the race for a $40,000 prize pot, offered thanks to Nexo, should no player shoot lower by the end of play on Sunday. Not a bad way to spend a Thursday, all told.
A Hometown Round With Real Bite
This was not merely a sentimental lap around a familiar patch of Piedmont turf. Molinari’s round had precision, patience and a bit of grit under the fingernails. Circolo Golf Torino can reward those who keep the ball in play, but it is not in the business of handing out 63s like complimentary mints.
The heat made the course more receptive than it might otherwise have been, with greens unable to reach their firmest, fiercest condition. Still, someone had to take advantage. Molinari did so with the calm of a man who has spent years solving this particular crossword.
He was especially pleased with his driving, and with good reason. Tight tee shots rarely forgive vanity, and Molinari’s ability to put the ball in play gave the rest of his game room to breathe.
Niemann Keeps The Pressure On
Joaquín Niemann ensured Molinari would not be allowed to enjoy too much open air at the top. The Chilean carded a 64 to sit alone in second, one shot back, after a round that was nearly as polished and not quite as locally romantic.
Niemann made three birdies in his first five holes and added two more at the eighth and ninth to go out in 31. Further birdies followed at the 14th, 15th and 18th, with a lone bogey at the 16th preventing him from matching Molinari’s number.
At 27, Niemann has the sort of athletic, aggressive game that can make a course feel shorter than its architect intended. On Thursday, though, it was not only length that mattered. His control from the tee kept him in position, and his putting did enough damage to keep the leaderboard honest.
Migliozzi Leads The Chasing Italian Pack
Guido Migliozzi added another Italian name to the sharp end of the board with a 65, joining the group at six under par. His start was not exactly serene — three birdies and two bogeys in his opening five holes is less a beginning than a small argument — but he gathered himself smartly.
Starting at the tenth, Migliozzi picked up shots at the first and second holes after the turn, then finished with consecutive birdies in his final three holes. The four-time DP World Tour winner remains firmly in the conversation, particularly if the home crowd begins to sense an Italian Sunday brewing.
Frenchman Tom Vaillant, first off the tee, made excellent use of the early conditions with three birdies on each nine to set the initial target. He was later joined at six under by Spain’s Nacho Elvira and Rocco Repetto Taylor, and New Zealand’s Kazuma Kobori.
One shot further back sits a heavy Spanish presence: Pablo Larrazábal, Eugenio Chacarra, Ángel Ayora, Ángel Hidalgo and Jorge Campillo all reached five under, alongside Finland’s Oliver Lindell, Sweden’s Joakim Lagergren and France’s Jeong weon Ko.
Molinari On Surgery, Heat And A New Driver
Molinari’s post-round comments gave the day its human weight. This was not simply a hot score on a hot day. It was the result of work, recovery, adjustment and a player finding something under pressure that had only recently been visible on the practice ground.
Edoardo Molinari: It was great. I had a few weeks off before this event and I tried to put my swing a bit together because I wasn’t really playing very well in the beginning of the season. But I was, obviously I had surgery last year in August, so I was very, very rusty. And I had some very good practice sessions but you never know until it’s tournament day and obviously you have to hit the ball very good.
I changed the driver last week and I have to say the new driver from Titleist is amazing. I’m always a bit tentative to move to a new club but it did make a big difference.
It’s never this hot. It’s only this hot usually for a week in the middle of the summer, not this early. But we got a heatwave these days and it’s very hot. It’s a shame because they cannot get the greens very firm but, on the other hand, the course is a little bit more gettable and plays a bit more like it usually plays.
I think I’ve been putting quite well the last year. Today I had a great day on the greens but that’s not a big surprise. I was very pleased with the way I hit it off the tee. There’s some tight tee shots where I pretty much always hit the fairway today. Then I hit some really good tee shots down 15, 17, 18, it was quite far down for a guy like me, old and with a lot of stitches. I think the driving today made a made a big difference.
It was great. I had my family, my wife, my kids, my physio who I spent the last six months with pretty much every day. He did an amazing job together with everyone else. It was a very pleasing day.”
Niemann Happy To Let The Driver Talk
Niemann, meanwhile, was clear that Circolo Golf Torino rewards accuracy first, then allows the brave and powerful to take their chances. He did both well enough to put himself directly in Molinari’s slipstream.
Joaquín Niemann: It was very hard. I played good, I played really good, actually. I hit the ball great. I think it’s one of those courses that is asking you to be on the fairway, and I think I did that really well. I ended up making a few putts. So, yeah, I’m really happy with the round.
I mean, it is an advantage, especially if it goes straight (hitting long). You’re hitting a couple shots closer to the hole, but, I mean, 14 was, you know, you just got to commit to the line. I had the line over that tree, and I hit it right there – it was a good tee shot.
I ended up in a pretty bad spot, and I ended up making a great up and down there. But I drove it really well, I’ve been driving well for a few weeks now, so I’m really happy with the game.
I’m in good shape, so I mean, I can handle the heat (laughs).
A First-Round Lead With Plenty Of Heat Left In It
There is a long way to go, of course, and golf has a wicked little habit of punishing anyone who mistakes Thursday applause for Sunday silverware. Still, Molinari’s opening 63 was more than a low number. It was a declaration that experience, recovery and home-course instinct can still make a formidable cocktail.
The DS Automobiles 83° Open d’Italia now has its early storyline: an Italian veteran, back from surgery, leading at home after breaking a course record that had stood since 2006.
Behind him, Niemann lurks with power and poise, Migliozzi keeps the local interest simmering, and a crowded leaderboard waits for one loose swing or one hot putter to rearrange the furniture.
For now, Turin belongs to Molinari. Not loudly, not sentimentally, but with the quiet satisfaction of a man who found the fairway, found the hole, and for one sweltering day, found the old magic exactly where he left it.
