The Mighty Molinari Brothers Shine at Mission Hills

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McDowell and McIlroy have held onto the lead... and the Swedes have been superlative... but imagine how awesome it must feel to be a Molinari brother right now.

Edoardo and Francesco Molinari, representing Italy together for the third year in a row, are just four shots off the lead in third place, going into round three of the OMEGA Mission Hills World Cup. ~ The brothers are at 14 under, one shot behind defending Champions Henrik Stenson and Robert Karlsson and four behind the Impressive Irish leaders.

No matter how things turn out over the next couple of days though, the Molinari family will have reason to celebrate the 2009 season as a stellar one for both brothers.

The "little brother", 27 year old Francesco, recently broke into the ranks of the world's top 50 for the first time, after seven top ten finishes 2009, including second place in both Hong Kong and Portugal. He also made a more-than-respectable showing at the three majors he played in. The US Open T27, The Open Championship T13 and The PGA Championship T10.

For Edoardo... the senior Molinari brother at 28... 2009 was a comeback year. 2005 was the year he became the first continental European to win a U.S. Amateur Championship, and thus qualifying to play in the U.S. Open and British Open, as well as the Masters, where his caddy was none other than lil' bro, Francesco. A stellar 2007 on the Challenge Tour was followed by an injury-plagued 2008 on the European Tour. Returning to the Challenge Tour in 2009 he picked up the Piemonte Open, The Kazakhstan Open and the Italian Federation Cup. By then he had topped the Challenge Tour money list and made his way back to the Euro Tour for 2010. Then, last week in Japan he won the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament, just for good measure.

So you see what I mean by the magic of being a Molinari right now. Having your brother living his golf dreams alongside you while you're living your own... then competing for your country together... has to be the most incredible kind of awesome. Though there's a definite competition between the two brothers they clearly get along... as evidenced by their stellar teamwork over these the last couple of days. Well see what the weekend rounds bring.

But, I think it'd be pretty special to see a pair of brothers holding the trophy on Sunday morning.










Photos: Getty Images - ✿