Masters champion Danny Willett felt his final round duel with home favourite Francesco Molinari in the
Italian Open will serve him well for his Ryder Cup debut later this month.

The Englishman started the final round level with Molinari and while he posted a round of 66, it was one shot shy of the Italian.

Molinari started eagle-birdie in the final round and had opened a four-shot advantage on Willett with six holes left to play.

Not to be outdone, Willett duly went eagle-birdie at the 13th and 14th holes as he piled the pressure back on the leader.

Attempting to overturn Molinari on home soil in Milan was ideal preparation for facing the United States at Hazeltine, said Willett.

“Against Frankie in Italy is tough,” he told reporters. “I’m sure it’s going to be 100 times worse when we get to the Ryder Cup in America but it’s been a little bit of a taster.

It’s been good to play under that pressure and be under the gun and be in contention.” Willett finished the tournament on 21-under par and, despite finishing second, he was upbeat afterwards and said he was simply undone by some brilliant golf from the popular winner at Monza.

“I’ve shot a 66 on the final day and finished on 21 under, so I can’t be too hard on myself because there’s not much more I could’ve done. Sometimes you just have to hold your hands up and admit you got beat by the better player on the day,” said Willett.

“If you finish a golf tournament 21 under par and you lose, I don’t think you can be too disheartened about it.

Frankie played fantastic, had a great day and today wasn’t meant for us.” Europe are 2.80 to win the Ryder Cup, while American are 1.53 and the draw is 11.00.