In the third round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Italian Francesco Molinari made a hole-in-one on the 16th, and the raucous celebration by the 40,000 fans illustrated why the particular hole at TPC Scottsdale is called the ‘loudest hole bin the world’.

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Francesco’s brother, Edoardo, is playing the Dubai Desert Classic and while he was delighted for his younger sibling, he had a different hole in mind for a dream hole-in-one.

“Obviously, no better hole to get an ace than the 16th at TPC Scottsdale, given the number of fans there and the celebration. I spoke to him this morning, and he was still pumped,” said Edoardo.

“But if you ask me to chose one hole in the world where I’d like to get an ace, it would be the 12th at Augusta National. It’s such a beautiful hole.”

Rory McIlroy backs Tiger Woods

Several experts may have started writing Tiger Woods’ golfing obituary after his worst round (82) as a professional at the Phoenix Open on Friday, but world No1 Rory McIlroy is certainly not one of them.

“Tiger just needs to play a bit more competitive golf. I played a match with him in November in Seminole and he played absolutely fantastic,” McIlroy said.

“He has probably not played in conditions like they had in Phoenix for a long while, so it can be tough. It would also be hard given it is his first event of the year as there was so much attention and scrutiny going on around him.

“Besides Tiger’s too great a champion and everyone knows he’s trying his best, and practicing hard when he’s at home. All he needs is a bit more time on the golf course.”

Bad start for Morten Orum Madsen

It wasn’t the best of starts for Morten Orum Madsen on Sunday. The 26-year-old Dane had put himself in contention with bogey-free rounds of 63 and 66, but that streak was rudely broken on the very first hole in the final round.

Madsen hit his second shot on the difficult par-4 into the front bunker, then skulled his third over the crowd and into the left rough. The fourth shot was back into the bunker where his troubles originally started, and he failed to make an up-and-down to finish with a triple bogey.

He did show great ability to bounce back, making birdies in his next two holes and finally finishing on 73 for a tied fourth place.

Edouard Espana impresses

So you thought none of the MENA Tour stars made the cut? Well…there was one actually.

France’s Edouard Espana may have qualified through the 2014 Challenge Tour Order of Merit, in which he finished 11th thanks to a consistent campaign which featured seven top-10 finishes, but he has a MENA Tour connection.

Espana is one of the winners on the 2014 schedule of MENA Golf Tour. The 25-year-old won the Royal Golf Dar Es Salam Open, the second event on schedule last year.