Dyson falls away to gift Seville win to Molinari

The Italian Ryder Cup star produced a best-of-the-week 65, seven under par, to turn a four-stroke deficit into a three-shot win at the Spanish Open in Seville.

Molinari was ranked 14th in the world when he beat Lee Westwood at the HSBC Champions event in Shanghai nearly 18 months ago, but this was his first success since then.

While he celebrated his third European Tour victory, however, overnight leader Dyson was left to reflect on a 76 that dealt a big blow to his hopes of a Ryder Cup debut in September.

Nobody in the top 50 scored worse on the final day, Dyson falling all the way to joint 12th – and that after starting with two birdies.

Dane Soren Kjeldsen and Spaniards Alejandro Canizares and Pablo Larrazabal finished joint second, but Molinari out-played them all to take the first prize of more than £271,000.

“I knew I was playing well. I just needed some putts to drop,” said the 29-year-old, who moves back into the world’s top 30 as he heads back across the Atlantic for this week’s Players Championship.

“I was also hoping the other guys would not go too far under par and everything worked out perfectly.”

He is still not in a qualifying position for this year’s Ryder Cup, but added: “I just have to play the same golf a few more weeks and hopefully I will be there.”

Dyson made quick amends for his closing double bogey on Saturday by sinking an 18-foot putt on the first and then holing out from sand at the next.

But it all started to go wrong for the York golfer again when he ran up a six at the long fifth and further bogeys came on the seventh, eighth, 13th, 15th and 17th.