The Open: Francesco Molinari on his 'life-changing' year as Open champion
By Keith Jackson at Royal Portrush
Last Updated: 15/07/19 4:55pm
Francesco Molinari admitted he has had much to learn since his "life-changing" Open victory last year as he looks forward to his defence of the Claret Jug at Royal Portrush.
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Molinari has focused on managing his expectations after he held off Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose to clinch his maiden major championship at Carnoustie 12 months ago, while he enjoyed a record-breaking performance at the Ryder Cup.
The Italian's huge win catapulted him to stardom and he hinted that he was uncomfortable with the increased fame and attention, but he has adapted to his elevated status in the game and feels confident about his chances of mounting a successful defence.
"It changes your life, especially for a guy like me that likes to go a little bit under the radar and doesn't really need the attention," said Molinari when asked about his tenure as Champion Golfer of the Year at his pre-tournament press conference.
"It changes a lot in terms of everyday life, getting recognised by more people, more commitments. Every tournament you play there's more things to do, obviously time with the media, but also with sponsors and various different things to do. That's been the other, I guess, adaptation that I needed to get used to.
"So it's even more impressive to think of the guys who have won a lot more major championships and they face a different challenge to some other guys. The time you have to prepare for tournaments is not the same and you just need to learn to make the most of it and do things many times in a shorter time than before."
The 36-year-old also revealed his biggest challenge after his Carnoustie win was to temper his unprecedented levels of expectation following his remarkable run of results last year, which began with his impressive win at the BMW PGA Championship in May.
"I wasn't prepared for that," he added. "It was quite a big challenge, especially at the beginning, to get used to it. But it's something you learn to deal with, especially as the win last year came after a certain period of time where I played some really good golf. So expectations kept rising almost every week I was playing.
"But I think now I've learned to do a decent job of managing that. Obviously this week is going to be extra special, and any week that you defend is special. And especially at a major championship, it's going to be another new experience for me.
"My approach is going to be to try and enjoy as much as possible. And I think like I did at the Ryder Cup last year, try to almost soak in the energy from the crowd, and help me perform as much as I can, as good as I can."
