Francesco Molinari would relish an "absolutely incredible" opportunity to play for Europe in the Ryder Cup on home soil after starring in the inaugural edition of the Hero Cup.

The 40-year-old Italian captained Continental Europe to a 14.5-10.5. victory over Tommy Fleetwood's Great Britain and Ireland team in the Hero Cup Abu Dhabi Golf Club.

Molinari earned 3.5 points and finished this week unbeaten along with his compatriot Guido Migliozzi, Dane Nicolai Hojgaard and Frenchman Victor Perez.

Robert MacIntyre of Scotland was among the top performers for GB&I, beating Swede Alex Noren 5&3 in the singles to take his tally for the week to three points.

Molinari believes European golf is in good shape just over eight months before the Ryder Cup starts at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Guidonia Montecelio, near Rome.

The 2018 Open champion became the first European to win five points from as many matches at 2018 Ryder Cup and he would love the chance to face the United States in his homeland.

He said: "It's a great motivation for me. I need to be careful; it's a long way away and there's a lot of golf to be played in between and a lot of goals, intermediate goals to get there.

"So, I just need to focus on my game – it's definitely much better than it's been. So hopefully I can play some good golf and be in Rome. Being in Rome would be absolutely incredible."

He added: "I think we showed some great golf in the last few days – both teams. 

"I think both teams showed a very competitive but fair spirit. Obviously to my guys – incredible job. I'm super proud of each one of you.

"I got to know some guys that I didn't know very well and I can say that European golf is in very safe hands."

Cole Hammer is the leader after the first round of the RSM Classic, enjoying his only round for the week at Sea Island Resort's Plantation course on Thursday to post an eight-under 64.

The RSM Classic utilizes two courses at Sea Island Resort – the par-72 Plantation course, and the par-70 Seaside course. Each competitor will get one round on each course before the cut heading into the weekend, with the final two rounds to be played on the Seaside course.

Starting on the back-nine, 23-year-old Hammer posted nine birdies and seven pars from his first 16 holes, before his first blemish came with a bogey on the 17th to finish alone atop the leaderboard at eight under.

In second place is Ben Griffin, who also played the Plantation course, going bogey-free for his seven-under 65.

Beau Hossler and Callum Taren are tied for third after shooting six-under 64s on the Seaside course, with that appearing as the harder of the two tracks. 

There is a logjam tied for sixth at five under, and of the 16 payers to shoot five under or better, only four – Hossler, Taren, Chris Gotterup and Andrew Putnam – did it on the Seaside course.

Rising talent Sahith Theegala and recent winner of the Bermuda Championship Seamus Power are one further back at four under, with Italy's Francesco Molinari and Canada's Taylor Pendrith at three under.

It was a tough day out for some of the field's biggest names, with former Masters champion Danny Willett struggling to three over on the Seaside course, while former world number one Jason Day had similar issues on his way to four over.

The shot of the day went to Webb Simpson, who took advantage of his only round this week at the Plantation course with an ace on the par-three third hole. 

Declan Rice believes a green jacket would be an ideal complement to claret and blue for West Ham fans Billy Horschel and Francesco Molinari.

England and West Ham footballer Rice sent the loyal Hammers a message of good luck on Thursday, with the Masters getting under way at Augusta National.

Neither Horschel nor Molinari hail from West Ham's traditional east London catchment area, but both have made public declarations of love for the Premier League club.

Horschel, a 35-year-old American, became a West Ham supporter during his days in college and used a golf bag bearing club colours and the team's crest during last year's Open Championship.

Molinari first began following West Ham in 2009 when his friend and fellow Italian Gianfranco Zola was manager of the team.

Rice said, in a message posted on West Ham's Twitter page: "Billy, Francesco, all the best this week in the Masters.

"Me and the boys will be rooting for you. Hopefully one of you can get the green jacket. All the best. See you soon."

Horschel finished tied for second at the recent Arnold Palmer Invitational and is up to 13th in the world rankings. He has only ever spent one week higher on that list, when he briefly held down number 12 in 2014, and headed into the Masters with high hopes, looking to improve on his best performance of tied-17th in the 2016 tournament.

He was due off in a starry afternoon group alongside Dustin Johnson and Collin Morikawa, both two-time major winners.

Molinari, the 2018 Open champion, has struggled for results of late and was among the early starters on day one, joining 1987 Masters winner Larry Mize and Austria's Sepp Straka in the third group out.

West Ham had a major assignment of their own to look forward to on Thursday, tackling Lyon in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final.

Hudson Swafford carded an eight-under 64 to charge to his third career PGA triumph winning the American Express by two shots from Tom Hoge at La Quinta on Sunday.

The 34-year-old American enjoyed a remarkable final day after bogeying the first hole, with nine birdies and an eagle on the 16th to finish victorious at 23-under.

Entering the 16th hole, Swafford was level with Francesco Molinari and Brian Harman at 20-under but a clutch second shot set up eagle, before a birdie on the 17th and making par on the 18th to close out the win.

Swafford's previous two PGA titles came in 2020 and 2017, the latter being at the same event. He had five birdies and an eagle on his back nine along with two bogeys, edging out Hoge who carded a four-under 68 on the final day to finish 21-under.

Harman, Lanto Griffin and overnight joint leader Lee Hodges were equal at 20-under, with the latter struggling with a two-under-par 70 on Sunday.

Fellow day three joint leader Paul Barjon slipped down the leaderboard with a one-over-par 73 to finish 17-under.

Reigning PGA Tour Player of the Year Patrick Cantlay was unable to make a final day move, carding a four-under 68 to end up 18-under, behind Will Zalatoris, Denny McCarthy and Molinari (all 19-under).

Francesco Molinari has been ruled out of Italy's squad for the Tokyo Olympics, with the former Open champion hit by injury.

The 38-year-old narrowly missed the cut at the Open Championship on Friday when he followed an opening 68 with a disappointing 74, to finish one shot away from making it through to the weekend.

The Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) said he was struggling and would not be able to recover in time to travel to Japan.

CONI's statement read: "Francesco Molinari is forced to give up on Tokyo 2020. The Azzurro golfer has suffered an injury in recent competitive engagements that will not allow him to recover in time to participate in the five-ring event.

"The Italy team has asked to be able to replace Molinari with Renato Paratore and awaits the green light from the international federation to make the replacement."

Molinari, who won the Open in 2018 and has played on three victorious European Ryder Cup teams, has endured a tough season, with the one-time world number five slumping to 141st in the rankings. Potential replacement Paratore is ranked even lower, at 192nd.

Golf returned to the Olympics at the 2016 Games in Rio, after last being contested in 1904, with Britain's Justin Rose taking the gold medal. Most of the world's elite players will take part in Tokyo, although American Dustin Johnson and Spain's Sergio Garcia have elected to stay at home.

The men's event is due to run from July 29 to August 1, at the Kasumigaseki Country Club, with Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama giving Japan a serious contender for the gold medal.

Louis Oosthuizen joined Russell Henley in a share of the lead as the opening round of the U.S. Open was interrupted, while Phil Mickelson's quest for back-to-back majors got off to an awful start at Torrey Pines.

A fog-enforced delay meant the start of the major tournament was pushed back by around an hour and a half on Thursday, and while Oosthuizen was unable to finish his round, the 2010 Open Championship winner still ended the day alongside Henley atop the leaderboard.

Oosthuizen – one of three players to finish in the top 10 at each of the last two U.S Opens, joining Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele – moved into a tie at four under after birdieing the 14th hole in San Diego.

Henley had set the early pace after claiming an early lead behind his impressive four-under-par 67, which was enough for him to initially head back to the clubhouse with a one-shot lead over Francesco Molinari and Rafa Cabrera Bello.

It was Henley's sixth career score of 67 or better in a major championship and first since the 2018 US PGA Championship (65 in round two).

Molinari and Cabrera Bello remain a stroke off the pace heading into Friday, with the first round scheduled to resume at 06:50 local time.

Two-time U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka is not far behind following his two-under-par 69 to kick off his pursuit of a fifth major crown.

Koepka, who finished second behind Mickelson at the PGA Championship, set the standard with four birdies in his first 11 holes taking him into a solo lead.

However, two bogeys meant he had to scramble to recover as Koepka ended the day alongside Schauffele, Hayden Buckley, Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, John Rahm (through 17) and Sebastian Munoz (through 14).

Koepka has gone on to win or finish second in six of the last 10 majors which he opened with a score in the 60s.

World number one Dustin Johnson and star Rory McIlroy were both through 17 holes when play was called for the day.

Johnson had mixed a birdie with a bogey, while four-time major champion and 2011 U.S. Open winner McIlroy had an eventful start with three bogeys and four birdies.

Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau and his bid for back-to-back trophies started with a two-over-par 73.

American star Mickelson ended the round two shots worse off than DeChambeau following his forgettable 75.

Mickelson, who became the oldest major winner when he clinched the US PGA Championship last month, finished with five bogeys, including back-to-back on the front nine.

Russell Henley took the early lead at the U.S. Open, with former world number one Brooks Koepka not far behind, though Phil Mickelson struggled.

Henley shot an impressive four-under-par 67 at Torrey Pines on Thursday to head back in the clubhouse with a one-shot lead over Francesco Molinari and Rafa Cabrera Bello.

Heading in at fourth was four-time major winner Koepka, the 2017 and 2018 U.S. Open champion going round in 69 on the opening day.

Koepka has been involved in one of the big stories in the build-up to the major amid his feud with defending champion Bryson DeChambeau making headlines, albeit the latter dismissed it as "banter back and forth in good fun."

With DeChambeau teeing off later in the day, Koepka set the standard with four birdies in his first 11 holes taking him into a solo lead.

However, two bogeys meant he had to recover with two pars to finish on two under, giving Henley the early advantage.

Ahead of Koepka, Molinari – who has fallen outside the top 150 in the world rankings – was back to his best, with his brother Edoardo just two shots behind on one under.

There was no such luck for six-time major champion and American star Mickelson, whose chances of claiming this elusive tournament look slim.

Mickelson became the oldest major winner when he clinched the US PGA Championship last month, but shot a four-over 75, which included successive bogeys.

Another former US PGA Championship winner to struggle was Collin Morikawa, who also finished on four over.

"It's not the start I wanted, bogeying every par-three, and I think I had like three three-putts today. It's not acceptable," he said.

"It's not how you keep yourself in a tournament on a Thursday. You know what, this course is going to play tough, and still got at least tomorrow to just grind it out and see how it goes. I had some stretches of decent golf, I've just got to keep doing that and really not compound the errors."

Tony Finau is part of a three-way tie for the lead heading into the final round of The American Express.

The American, whose only previous PGA Tour win came at the Puerto Rico Open in 2016, fired a five-under 67 in the third round in California on Saturday.

Finau was four under through 12 holes in his round before finding water and making a double bogey at the par-three 13th.

But he responded in style, reeling off three straight birdies to get to 15 under – which sees him share the lead with Max Homa (65) and Kim Si-woo (67).

Finau has eight top-10 finishes at majors, but on Sunday will bid to end his wait for a second PGA Tour victory.

Homa, meanwhile, had a double bogey after finding water on the seventh, while Kim went through bogey-free on the PGA West Stadium Course, which hosted the third round.

Richy Werenski (65) is a shot back of the leading trio, while Russell Knox (64), Brian Harman (67) and Emiliano Grillo (68) are at 13 under.

Cameron Davis (66), Rory Sabbatini (67), Chase Seiffert (65), Francesco Molinari (69) and Doug Ghim (69) are tied for eighth.

Molinari, the 2018 Open Championship winner, is playing for the first time since last year's Masters, having missed five cuts in seven events in 2020.

Overnight leader Im Sung-jae slipped back to a tie for 20th after finding the water three times during his round, including twice at the ninth.

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