PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — Francesco Molinari has a tattoo. Digest that for a moment: arguably the most placid British Open champion ever has a tattoo on his right upper arm. It signifies a rebellious streak he's done well to contain to become a major champion.
The Champion Golfer of the Year for 2018 walked into a tattoo parlor after he turned 18 and told the artist to etch a symbol on his skin as a mark of rebellion. Problem was, Molinari had no idea what he wanted. Anything would do.
"It's a Chinese symbol for the tiger," Molinari said. "It was a silly thing. I turned 18 and it was a way of rebelling, I guess. I thought 'I'm 18, I can do whatever I want, I'll get a tattoo.' And then I'll regret it for the rest of my life.
"The thing that I regret is that I went in and I wanted to have a tattoo, but I didn't have a clue about what tattoo I should have. The guy was trying to tell me to come back another time, think about what you want. But I said, 'No, no we need do it now, just show me a catalog of images.'
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Youthful exuberance has its drawbacks. "I wish it was something more meaningful than a random Chinese symbol. I can't even be 100% sure that it is a Chinese symbol for a tiger. It might be fried dumplings or something!"
Molinari's rebellious streak seems hard to believe now considering how phlegmatic he is in on the golf course, especially last year when he stared down another Tiger at Carnoustie to win the Open Championship. Molinari seemed at ease with himself in a final-round, 2-under 69 to win by two shots.
There was a time when he struggled to contain his emotions.
"Definitely in the family I was the hot-headed one," he admits. "My father was pretty strict when I started around 13, 14, 15 so he sorted me out pretty quickly. By the time I was in university I was pretty much more level-headed.
"You need it to have the excitement but you need to control it too at some point. I've snapped clubs. Not even in a tournament but just having a game with my brother Edoardo. I remember losing against my brother and snapping a putter, and my dad saying to me you're not playing golf for three weeks, which was kind of tough. Edoardo was always very straightforward, so any little act of rebellion was looked at like a massive thing in our family."
Combating that rebellious nature took him to a massive moment in his life. He's got an old claret jug to go with his random tattoo. That's not something he'll regret for the rest of his life.
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2019-07-15 15:41:00Z
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