Sunday at The Open Live Blog: Francesco Molinari wins at Carnoustie

We had an epic Sunday in Scotland.

The Open is on a run that the other major championships have to envy. Since 2013, we’ve gotten one amazing Sunday after another with several future Hall of Famers taking home the oldest trophy in golf. Sunday did not disappoint.

Italian golfer Francesco Molinari won The Open at Carnoustie after shooting an 8-under on the day to beat out the rest of the field. He birdied 14 and 18 which was enough to hold the rest of the surging field featuring Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy, Kevin Kisner, Xander Schauffele, Eddie Pepperel, and Tiger Woods. The day saw tons of guys tied at 6-under at the lead at various points throughout the day, which made a Playoff look possible. But tip your cap to Molinari on an incredible round.

The other biggest story of the day was Woods, who led the field at one point but finished at 5-under. He looked stronger than he has in years, but a costly double bogey on 11 and bogey on 12 allowed Molinari to charge up the board. Obviously it wasn’t the result Tiger wanted, but golf fans around the world are thrilled with the Sunday Tiger gave them.

Updates

2:00 p.m.:

It’s over — Francesco Molinari wins The Open after shooting a 69 on the day, to finish 8-under and give him the Claret Jug. What a day for the Italian!

1:28 p.m.:

Tiger Woods finishes his final round at 5-under, shooting a 71 on the day after missing a birdie putt at 18 to settle for par. Obviously not the outcome many hoped for, but a hell of a day and finish for Tiger all the way around. Right after Tiger’s putt, Francesco Molinari took the outright lead with a birdie putt at 18 to move to 8-under.

1:18 p.m.:

Tiger makes a putt for par at 17 to stay in it at 5-under, he’ll need a birdie at 18 to have a chance. Molinari and Schauffele remain at the top of the leaderboard at 7-under.

12:44 p.m.:

Justin Rose’s final round is finished, shooting a 69 to finish at 6-under. He gets a big ovation at 18 to end his round. He’ll have to play the waiting game for the rest of the afternoon to see how the rest of the leaderboard pans out.

Here’s your live leaderboard as Sunday’s final round progresses:

12:37 p.m.:

Francesco Molinari takes the outright lead at 7-under through 14. Rory McIlroy has pulled himself to be tied at 6-under joining three other guys one-back. And oh hey, Tiger Woods makes a birdie putt at 14 to pull him back within 5-under.

12:19pm: Tiger compounded his mistakes around the green at the 11th with another bogey at the 12th, he’s now two behind the glut of leaders at 6-under-par.

But well, HELLO. Look who just joined that group atop the leaderboard with a massive eagle on the 14th. Oh, just Rory McIlroy.

Fireworks, man. This day has everything.

It’s Spieth, McIlroy, Molinari, Schauffele, Chappell, and Kisner all tied at 6-under. They’ll all have to come through the crazy closing stretch at Carnoustie, but you’ve gotta be thinking birdie — maybe eagle — if you’re Tiger coming to the par-5 14th here. A par probably ends his chances at this thing.

12:03pm:

Welp, Tiger Woods falls off the top of the leaderboard with a crushing double bogey on 11. He’s now one shot back from the lead, behind Jordan Spieth, Kevin Chappell, Kevin Kisner, and Francesco Molinari.

11:22am: It’s happening. Tiger Woods leads a major on Sunday headed to the back nine.

Jordan Spieth and Xander Schauffele just made a mess of the par-5 6th that’s been one of the best opportunities to make birdie all week on the golf course. Schauffele gave back a shot thanks to finding the bunker right of the green with his approach, but Spieth, hoooo buddy, we made a mess of things.

Our defending champ had to take an unplayable lie from a gorse bush down the right side, costing him a shot and leaving him with a long putt to try to save par. He ran that one a few by, and then booted his short bogey putt coming back. That’s a double, and drops him to 3-over for the day and 6-under for the tournament, one behind Tiger and Xander. That’s a bit concerning if you’re a Spieth fan. He’s had trouble with short ones all year, and if that becomes a trend, he could fall out of things fast here.

Oh, and as I write this — Tiger just saved another par and Xander just hit one about a total of 20 yards in the hay on 7. He’s going to have the outright lead momentarily.

10:55am: I’m going to be clear: If this happens, it will get no better for golf in your lifetime.

Tiger just tossed in another birdie at the par-5 6th, and he’s about the only player on the golf course moving forward instead of backward. Right as he rolled in another five footer for birdie ahead on 6th, Spieth and Schauffele both made bogey at the 5th.

Tiger Woods trails Jordan Spieth by one at a major championship. In 2018. On Sunday.

Sink this in. It will get no better.

10:16am - We’re off, and no one’s moving forward just yet. Carnoustie’s turned into, well, Carnoustie. The wind’s howling, guys are finding balls up against the faces of deep bunkers, and this is what we normally think of when we hear ‘Open at Carnoustie.’

It’s Xander Schauffele and Jordan Spieth alone up top, after Kevin Kisner’s already backed up to 6-under as well as Kevin Chappell. And, oh hey, as I type this — guess who’s joined that group in a tie for 3rd? None other than Tiger Woods. He just dropped in a 15ish-footer for his first birdie of the day, threw down a fist pump in Sunday Red, and I’ve got the vapors.

Let’s get weird.

9:28am - This is Game Number 38. On the tee from USA, Tiger Woods.

Man, that’s been missed. We’re off with Cat — and he stripes a driving iron right down the middle, pure as can be. And then stiffed his second to about 10-12 feet for a makeable chance at birdie. He did all that into about a 20mph wind straight in his face, and just nearly missed his roll to get it to 7-under/There’s reason to feel good, y’all. It’ll be fun to watch to see if he and Francesco Molinari can feed off each other today — Frank’s perhaps the hottest player in the world at the moment and has made a habit of taking it super low as of late.

Not much happening otherwise in terms of early runs from those behind. Erik Van Rooyen’s the only player that started further back than 5-under who’s made a move — he’s made two birdies through his opening five to get it to 6-under. Row The Boat.

8:45 a.m. — Jason Day is the best early score on the course. We know Day can turn it on and go low. He’s one of the most talented players in the world and he’s 4-under through his first 16 holes. That’s on pace for a number in the mid-60s. I don’t think there will be many scores in that range in the late wave, but Day is showing it’s at least possible for a chaser like Tiger.

7:55 a.m. — The Cat has arrived. The good news is the shirt is blood red — no gradient design or two-toned nonsense. The bad news is it’s a blade collar, and my deep statistical research has revealed that no player has ever won a Claret Jug while wearing a blade collar.

7:15 a.m. — The wind is up a bit at Carnoustie, and that’s what we want for the final round test at The Open. I don’t think there will be carnage unless it really starts to blow for the late tee times, but it won’t be a birdiefest like Saturday.

6 a.m. — We slept in a bit today to have the energy for all the madness that lies ahead. It was glorious after a 1 a.m. wake-up call on Thursday and Friday. The leaderboard is as good as it gets and the earlier tee times have demonstrated that it’s possible to #LiveUnderPar out there. Henrik Stenson, Brooks Koepka, and the beautiful boy Bryson DeChambeau are some of the bigger names to get in the red early in the draw.