Molinari earned his
European Tour card for 2005 through
qualifying school. He finished in 86th place on the tour's Order of Merit in his rookie season. In May 2006, Molinari claimed his first European Tour victory, becoming the first Italian since
Massimo Mannelli in 1980 to win the
Telecom Italia Open. This victory helped him finish 38th on the Order of Merit. He did not win on Tour between 2007 and 2009 but during that time he recorded twenty top-10 finishes including three runner-up finishes. He finished 60th on the Order of Merit in 2007, 24th in 2008 and 14th in the Race to Dubai in 2009. In October 2009, Molinari reached the top 50 of the
Official World Golf Ranking for the first time. On 29 November 2009, Molinari, along with his older brother Edoardo, led Italy to their first
World Cup victory at the Omega Mission Hills World Cup in China. On 7 November 2010, Molinari won the
WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, China. He defeated
Lee Westwood by one stroke, finishing at 19-under par. The win moved him into 14th in the Official World Golf Ranking, his highest ranking for eight years. He also recorded eleven top-10 finishes including two runner-up finishes en route to a 5th-place finish in the Race to Dubai. In October 2010, Molinari represented Europe in the
2010 Ryder Cup which took place at
Celtic Manor Resort, teaming up with his brother Edoardo in the four-balls (halved against
Stuart Cink and
Matt Kuchar) and foursomes (lost against
Zach Johnson and
Hunter Mahan). He then lost the singles match by 4 and 3 against
Tiger Woods on the final day. Europe defeated the United States, 14–13. Molinari had a steady 2011 without any further victories but did record seven top-10 finishes, including a 3rd place at the
WGC-Cadillac Championship. He finished the year ranked 21st in the Race to Dubai. Molinari picked up his third win on the European Tour on 6 May 2012 at the
Reale Seguros Open de España. He was four strokes out of the lead going into the final round but fired a 65 (−7), the best round of the tournament, to win by three strokes over
Alejandro Cañizares,
Søren Kjeldsen and
Pablo Larrazábal. In July 2012, the week before the
Open Championship, Molinari lost in a playoff at the
Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open. He was defeated on the first playoff hole by
Jeev Milkha Singh. Molinari gained an automatic selection for the
2012 Ryder Cup, where he played the foursomes with
Lee Westwood on Friday, losing by 3 and 2 to
Jason Dufner and
Zach Johnson; he then teamed up in the four-balls with
Justin Rose, losing by 5 and 4 against
Bubba Watson and
Webb Simpson. On the final day, he halved with
Tiger Woods in the last singles match. The point meant Europe not only completed a comeback from 10–6 down at the start of the final day to retain the cup, but won it outright by a score of 14 points to 13. During the 2013 and 2014 seasons Molinari did not register a tournament win, but his steady position in the top fifty of the
OWGR allowed him to play several
PGA Tour events as a non-member, where he reached three top ten finishes; among these the most prestigious result was the 6th place at the
2014 Players Championship. These results allowed him to earn a full PGA Tour card for the 2014–15 season. In 2015 and 2016, Molinari shared his time between the European Tour and PGA Tour. In September 2016 he became the first Italian to win his national open twice with a 1 shot victory over
Danny Willett at the 2016
Italian Open. Other notable results in Europe were the 2nd places collected at the 2015
Open de España and 2016
Open de France, while in the U.S. he collected a 3rd place at the 2015
Memorial Tournament. In the same year he also recorded a hole in one at the iconic 16th hole of the
Waste Management Phoenix Open. Molinari recorded his fifth European Tour win and first Rolex Series titles in May 2018, with victory in the European Tour's flagship event, the
BMW PGA Championship. He produced a flawless final round to see off
Rory McIlroy by two strokes. The win took Molinari level with
Costantino Rocca, for most European Tour wins by an Italian. In the same year, Molinari won the
Quicken Loans National in a dominating fashion by shooting a 62 on Sunday to win by eight strokes, the first PGA Tour win for an Italian since 1947. At the
2018 Open Championship, Molinari won the tournament with a score of −8, pairing with Tiger Woods in the final round. The win at the Open Championship moved him to sixth place in the Official World Golf Ranking, the highest ranking of his career to date. In September 2018, Molinari qualified for the European team participating in the
2018 Ryder Cup. Europe defeated the U.S. team 17 to 10. Molinari became the first player ever to go 5–0–0. He paired with
Tommy Fleetwood to win all four fourball and foursome matches. He also won his singles match against
Phil Mickelson. On 18 November 2018, Molinari won the season-long
Race to Dubai title on the
European Tour. The victory was worth $1,250,000. On 10 March 2019, Molinari won the
Arnold Palmer Invitational for his third PGA Tour victory of his career. He teed off 10 groups ahead of the leaders on the final day and 5 stokes behind, making three birdies and no bogeys on his first seven holes. On the 8th hole, from well off the green he holed a chip for another birdie and made the turn in 32 (−4). He made four more birdies on the back nine, including a 43-foot putt at the 72nd hole, to shoot a final-round 64 that ended up giving him a two-stroke win over
Matt Fitzpatrick, who shot a final-round 71. In April 2019, Molinari was the 54-hole leader at the
Masters at 13 under, two strokes clear of
Tony Finau and
Tiger Woods, after a six-under-par 66 third round. Molinari held the lead for two thirds of the final round, until he reached the par-3 12th, where his tee shot found the water, resulting in a double bogey. He found the water again on the 15th, which led to another double bogey to fall out of contention. He finished with a round of 74 and T5 finish, Molinari is an ambassador for Borne, a medical research charity looking to identify the causes of premature birth. ==Personal life==