The best player in the world this summer won The Open with the day’s best shot

Despite a wild day with some legends and Hall of Famers circling the Claret Jug, the best player in the world right now wins the Open.

The best golfer in the world this summer won the British Open on Sunday. It’s not the sexiest name or the most well-known superstar out there. A majority of the audience probably tuned in to see his playing partner, but Francesco Molinari was the deserving winner at Carnoustie.

If you’ve been paying attention to golf this summer, the result should come as no surprise. Molinari has been on an absolute tear. He won the European Tour’s biggest event at the end of May, nearly won his national Italian Open, and then came to the States over the last month to do the same. Molinari wrecked the field at Tiger Woods’ Quicken Loans National a few weeks ago, running away by a good eight shots. Then he stayed in the States and went to the heartland for a second-place finish at the John Deere Classic.

It was an odd time to bail on his regular European Tour, but Molinari wanted to moved up the stateside FedExCup rankings. He picked those two events to do it. When a plan comes together that well, you know a player is on a heater and executing at the highest levels.

So it was no surprise to see Molinari win The Open, given his recent form as the hottest player in the world. But the way in which he did it was surprising, and even awe-inspiring. Carnoustie played easy on Saturday, but it was brute on Sunday. The wind was up and conditions were especially difficult for the late wave of tee times. We saw so many of the world’s top players, from Tiger to Jordan Spieth to Tommy Fleetwood, drop shots. Even the best rounds of the day got punched in the mouth with a bogey or two.

Molinari did not make a single bogey the entire weekend. He did not slip up once even as the leaderboard shuffled all around him, with the biggest names in the sport igniting the crowds. It was a manic pace all Sunday with so many stars jumping the leaderboard and seeming like the favorites for the Claret Jug. But Molinari just cruised through, never dropping a shot during one of the great final rounds in recent major championship history.

The Italian received the smaller share of hype as he moved through the final round. He operated quietly, but he was certainly not quiet at the end. His final shot in the 18th was as good as you will ever see at the last in a major.

You should understand the context of the shot first. Tiger Woods, which the crowds and everyone watching had been rooting on all day, stuffed one to close range. Everyone lost their minds one last time. If Tiger converted his putt, and Molinari blew it on the last hole, they’d be tied. This last hole is also reputed as maybe the most dangerous in the Open rota.

But Molinari stepped up, in a tie for first with Xander Schauffele at the time, and stuffed it inside Tiger’s shot. Given all that was around him and what just happened ahead of him, this is as impressive as it gets on the final hole of a major.

Instead of Frankie making bogey and Tiger making birdie to pull even, it was Molinari that posted the red number. Tiger missed his putt but he knew it wouldn’t have mattered after Molinari completely wiped out the hopes of everyone on a loaded and crowded leaderboard.

This was a wild day of leaderboard movement with names like McIlroy, Spieth, Rose, and Woods all playing a factor. But after all of it on an incredible Sunday, I’ll remember that Molinari shot into the 18th the most. The best player in the world right now won the Jug and he did it with the best shot of the day.

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Here’s your leaderboard from The 147th Open: