Molinari 22/1 to go back-to-back

Francesco Molinari looks excellent value at 22/1 for the Players Championship after his superb victory in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

The 36-year-old put together a scintillating final-round 64 on Sunday to end up on 12-under par and record a two-shot victory at Bay Hill.

The Ryder Cup star’s second PGA Tour win to add to his 2018 Open Championship success sees the Italian move up to seventh in the world rankings and vindicates his decision to take so much time off at the start of the year.

Molinari returned to action in Mexico, after playing in January’s Sentry Tournament of Champions, before teeing it up in Florida and he confessed that Sunday’s display on the greens was as good as it gets.

“Probably (I) have to say (this was) my best putting round ever,” he said. “I don’t know if I could have done a lot more than that to be honest.”

On a cosmopolitan leaderboard, England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick was second, with compatriots Tommy Fleetwood and Matt Wallace finishing in a share of third and sixth respectively.

Spain’s Rafa Cabrera Bello was third while South Korean trio Sungjae Im, Sung Kang and Byeong Hun An all finished in the top 10.

Rory McIlroy could only card an even-par 72 during his final 18 holes and ended up tied for sixth, with the Northern Irishman now looking forward to Sawgrass and another chance to finally get over the line following six top-6 finishes in a row.

“I’m playing well, I’m getting myself into contention every week, continue to do that, going into next week, that’s the great thing about golf, you don’t have to wait too long to get back on the horse,” he said.

McIlroy is 12/1 to win the Players, with Dustin Johnson (12/1), Justin Thomas (16/1), Justin Rose (20/1) and Tiger Woods (22/1) all among the market leaders for the next Florida event.

Odds subject to change.