Home fans at Circolo Golf Torino got the start they had been dreaming of. Edoardo Molinari, the 45-year-old Turin native, fired a course-record 8-under 63 on Thursday to seize the first-round lead at the DS Automobiles 83° Open d’Italia, the DP World Tour’s national open of Italy. One shot back sits an unlikely challenger: LIV Golf’s Joaquin Niemann, who signed for a 64 in a rare DP World Tour appearance.
What Happened
Playing barely a short drive from where he learned the game, Molinari turned the opening day into a hometown celebration. According to DP World Tour scoring, he made ten birdies against just two bogeys at the layout in Fiano, on the outskirts of Turin, to post the lowest round in the tournament’s modern history at the venue. At 45, he is comfortably one of the older players in the field, which made the relentless run of birdies all the more striking.
Niemann, the Chilean who has become one of LIV Golf’s biggest names, kept pace with a 7-under 64 to sit alone in second. A group of three shared third place at 6-under 65: New Zealand’s Kazuma Kobori, Spain’s Nacho Elvira and another Italian hope, Rocco Repetto Taylor. The DS Automobiles 83° Open d’Italia runs through Sunday, June 28, and remains one of the DP World Tour’s most historic national opens.
Conditions were ripe for scoring early in the week, and Molinari took full advantage before the wind picked up. His card featured a cluster of birdies on the par-5s and a confident putting display that drew roars from galleries packed with fans who grew up watching both Molinari brothers win around Europe. With 54 holes still to play the leaderboard is far from settled, but the veteran has handed himself the perfect platform on a course he knows intimately.
Why It Matters
Molinari is no journeyman enjoying a fluke. He is a three-time European Tour winner, the 2005 U.S. Amateur champion, a member of Europe’s victorious 2010 Ryder Cup team and a vice-captain at the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone in Rome. His younger brother, Francesco Molinari, won the 2018 Open Championship and has also served as a European vice-captain. For an Italian golfing dynasty, leading the national open on home soil carries enormous emotional weight, and the Turin crowds responded accordingly.
The presence of Joaquin Niemann adds a layer of intrigue that goes well beyond a single leaderboard. LIV Golf players continuing to tee it up in DP World Tour national opens is a reminder of how blurred the lines between the tours have become, even as the wider professional game wrestles with instability. Niemann arrives against the backdrop of LIV’s own deepening funding turmoil, and his appearance in Italy shows how valuable Official World Golf Ranking points and traditional events remain to breakaway stars.
There is a forward-looking angle, too. With the 2027 Ryder Cup heading to Adare Manor in Ireland, every strong week from an experienced European such as Molinari feeds the long-running debate about vice-captains, potential playing roles and whether veteran ball-strikers still belong at the very top. A national-open title at 45 would be one of the feel-good stories of the European season.
A course record also reignites the sport’s ongoing conversation about scoring and distance. With the governing bodies having just confirmed a delayed golf ball rollback and equipment makers pushing new gear such as the latest tour drivers, low numbers like Molinari’s 63 keep the debate firmly in the spotlight.
What This Means For You
You will never out-drive a tour pro, but Molinari’s round is a masterclass in something every club golfer can copy: avoiding the big mistake. Ten birdies grabbed the headlines, but it was the discipline of making only two bogeys across 18 holes that built the score. For most amateurs, the fastest route to lower numbers is not adding 15 yards off the tee – it is eliminating the double bogeys that quietly wreck a card.
Two practical places to start: tighten up your strike and your aim. Simple alignment stick drills can sharpen your setup and start line in minutes, while learning to stop early extension in your swing helps you find the center of the face more often under pressure. Combine cleaner contact with smarter target selection – aiming at the fat side of greens rather than every flag – and you build the kind of bogey-free stretches that turn a good round into a great one.
Finally, take a page from Molinari’s patience. Tour leaders rarely force the issue early; they let birdies come and refuse to compound errors. Next time you make a bogey, treat the following tee shot as the most important swing of your round: reset your routine, pick a conservative target and stop the bleeding. That single habit – protecting the card after a mistake – is exactly what separated Molinari’s 63 from players with similar talent who let one loose hole become three.
Key Takeaways
- Edoardo Molinari, 45, shot a course-record 8-under 63 to lead Round 1 of the DS Automobiles 83° Open d’Italia near his hometown of Turin.
- LIV Golf’s Joaquin Niemann is one back at 64; Kazuma Kobori, Nacho Elvira and Rocco Repetto Taylor share third at 65.
- Molinari is a 2010 Ryder Cup player, 2023 vice-captain and brother of 2018 Open champion Francesco Molinari.
- The tournament runs through Sunday, June 28, on the DP World Tour.
- The amateur lesson: low scores come from avoiding bogeys, not just chasing distance.
