AUGUSTA, Ga. — Ian Poulter, for one, was not surprised to see Francesco Molinari’s name at the top of the Masters leaderboard through 36 holes.
“He hits it straight, he’s now got a fantastic short game and he holes lots of putts,’’ Poulter said of his Ryder Cup teammate. “That’s the reason why he’s got the [Claret] Jug. He’s good. He’s really good.
“He’s a major winner, he’s won multiple events, the form he’s been in the last two years is quite incredible. He’s raised his game from an all‑around perspective, and he’s mentally stronger than what he was as well in the past. He’s got the whole package.’’
Molinari, the reigning British Open champion, won at Bay Hill last month and was an undefeated Ryder Cup force for the Europeans last fall, shot a 5-under 67 Friday and is tied for the lead at 7-under entering the weekend.
“Obviously, it was a very good day for me,’’ Molinari said. “Still a long, long way to go, so let’s see what we’ll be able to do on the weekend.’’
One of Molinari’s favorite memories at Augusta came when he caddied for his older brother, Edoardo, in the 2006 Masters, paired with Tiger Woods. He said he felt “miles away’’ from thoughts of actually competing and contending at a Masters back then.
“I was only starting,’’ Molinari said. “It was the beginning of my second season as a pro, and it was a great motivation to see how good the guys were and, at the same time, how much I needed to improve to hopefully one day get here.
“At the time, the goal was to maybe only be once in my career at Augusta, already would have been an achievement for me. I didn’t learn a lot, to be honest, about the course, because we were going sideways most of the time [laughing]. But yeah, it’s not great fun to caddie around here, I can tell you that.
“I didn’t really enjoy caddying. I love being here and I love caddying for my brother, but it was just so hard to give him clubs, and it seemed a bit of a nightmare standing with the bag, waiting for him to hit the shots.’’
Now Molinari is hitting the shots and he’s got as good a chance as anybody to win the Masters this weekend.
“I know that I need to keep doing what I do,’’ he said. “What I’ve learned from the last 12 months is that that’s all I can control and that’s all I can do when I’m out there — keep doing what I’m doing and keep making every process that I have even tighter and better. Just do that and see if anyone can beat me on the course.’’
