‘Comes to an end’…Coach says he’s stopped working with 41-year-old major champion after 20 years

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Golf coach Denis Pugh has confirmed that he is no longer coaching Francesco Molinari after 20 years working alongside the Italian.

Many would have been delighted to see Francesco Molinari’s name high up on the leaderboard at this past week’s Dubai Invitational. The 41-year-old carded a final round eight under par to finish fifth as Tommy Fleetwood and Rory McIlroy battled it out for the title on Sunday.

His performance is a promising sign for the 2018 Open champion. Molinari has not won on either the PGA or DP World Tour since the 2019 Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. And he finished 133rd on last year’s Race to Dubai.

Denis Pugh says he’s no longer coaching Francesco Molinari

Injuries have been a factor over the last few years. But it seems that Molinari has made a few changes at this stage of his career.

Renowned golf coach Denis Pugh was asked about whether he is still working with Molinari as he appeared on the latest episode of Golf Life. And he suggested that he is no longer coaching him.

“Not really now, because he’s left America and he’s moved back to Turin. Francesco’s still at The Wisley, so I’ll see him at The Wisley if he comes up. But in terms of coaching, that was after 20 years together, it just comes to an end,” he said.

Italian hopefully on course to end current wait for a victory

It would be fantastic to see Molinari get himself back towards the top of the game. He has had an unbelievable career to date, much of that down to his work with Pugh. And, judging by his display last week, there is little reason why he cannot still compete with the best.

He will struggle to hit the heights of what he achieved in 2018, when he won at Carnoustie and then proved to be flawless at the Ryder Cup. But he should certainly be able to end his wait for another win over the coming months.