Golf: Francesco Molinari claimed his second European Tour title after the Italian won the HSBC Champions by one stroke from Lee Westwood. Molinari carded a final round of 67 in Shanghai to finish on 19 under par and win a tournament he led from start to finish.
Westwood also shot a 67 to consolidate his position as world number one, ending the day 18 under par, while Luke Donald and Richie Ramsay shared third, a distant 10 shots back from the winner on nine under par.
Molinari proved a worthy winner, hardly giving Westwood an opening over the final 18 holes and proving equal to anything the English golfer could offer having established his eventual winning margin at the end of the first round.
Westwood, though, will be greatly encouraged by the quality of his game following a lay-off due to calf and ankle injuries.
Starting the day 14 under par and one ahead of the world number one, Molinari quickly set about cementing his place at the top of the leaderboard with birdies at the second and third. Westwood matched his rival's three at the third and again at the fifth before both players picked up another stroke at the par-five eighth following fine approach shots.
The Englishman missed a chance to close the gap back to one shot at the ninth when he failed to convert a makeable birdie putt with Molinari recovering to secure a par after leaving his second shot short of the green.
Westwood did manage to reduce the deficit at the 10th with a birdie, Molinari only making par following an ordinary approach and the world number one almost drew level at the next but saw a long birdie putt agonisingly come to rest on the edge of the hole.
Molinari could have established a two-shot cushion at the 14th when he ran a delicate chip and run close to the flag but missed a relatively short birdie putt, a surprise given the Italian's superb putting throughout the tournament.
Westwood failed to capitalise on an opening at the 15th when Molinari found an awkward spot with his second shot but the Englishman's came to rest just off the far edge of the green. Molinari recovered to make his par and the lead remained one with three to play.
It was the short par-four 16th that proved pivotal to the final outcome. Westwood let rip with a three-wood but landed in a tricky spot just short of the green. Molinari found the rough with an iron but hit a great second shot to around 10 feet.
Westwood faced a very awkward chip and his attempt just cleared the bunker in front of the 37-year-old, coming to rest in the rough on the upslope. He recovered to make par but Molinari sank his fifth birdie of the day to enjoy a two-stroke advantage.
The pair both parred the penultimate hole and Molinari decided to play it safe on the par-five 18th by laying up. Effectively needing an eagle to force a play-off and with nothing to lose, Westwood reached the green in two but was aghast to see his ball come to rest on top of a ridge instead of rolling back towards the hole.
The Italian stroked a long birdie attempt up to the hole and Westwood was unable to find the cup with his eagle putt, allowing Molinari to tap in and claim the WGC title.
Donald, meanwhile, missed out on securing third place for himself when he missed a short birdie putt at the last and fell into a tie with Ramsay.
Playing in the final group, the 32-year-old never really found his rhythm, posting a 73 that included three bogeys on the front nine. Donald had dropped just one shot over his previous 54 holes.
Ramsay signed for a 71 that featured three birdies and two bogeys to also end nine-under, while Rory McIlroy finished fifth on eight-under after completing a fine 67.
Tiger Woods climbed into a share of sixth with Paul Casey, Ernie Els, Richard Green, Retief Goosen, Peter Hanson and Fredrik Andersson Hed on seven under par following a 68 that saw the former world number one card seven birdies but three bogeys.
Padraig Harrington finished on five under after a round of 73 while Graeme McDowell closed with a 69 but that was only good enough for one under par.