Up until 15 years ago the only Italian professional golfer we knew was the delightful Constantina Rocca, whose everlasting moment of fame came at the 1995 Open Championship at St Andrews when he needed to birdie the 72nd to tie John Daly, and did so after flubbing his 2nd with a wedge, then audaciously sunk a 75 foot putt up through the valley of sin. He fell to the ground in tears of joy. pounding his fists into that hallowed turf.... then lost the 4 hole playoff...
This week I have counted 23 Italians in the field led of course by the 18 year old phenom Matteo Manessero and the Molinari brothers. It is amazing what success at the top level can do for a nation that was never known for golf... Seve, Bernhard Langer are other examples..
However it is 2 Englishmen who lead at the end of round one..
europeantour.com Robert Rock birdied his last five holes at Royal Park I Riveri to share the clubhouse lead with playing partner Chris Wood during the first round of the BMW Italian Open
The English pair both signed for eight under par rounds of 64 in Turin, and 34 year old Rock produced a stunning finish that included ten foot birdie putts at the seventh and ninth (his 16th and final holes).
T1 WOOD, Chris* -8 18 -8 64 - - - 64
T1 ROCK, Robert* -8 18 -8 64 - - - 64
T3 JAMIESON, Scott -7 18 -7 65 - - - 65
T3 OLESEN, Thorbjorn* -7 18 -7 65 - - - 65
T3 CABRERA-BELLO, Rafael -7 18 -7 65 - - - 65
T6 KALEKA, Alexandre -6 18 -6 66 - - - 66
T6 MANASSERO, Matteo* -6 18 -6 66 - - - 66
T6 LUITEN, Joost* -6 18 -6 66 - - - 66
T6 BOURDY, Grégory -6 18 -6 66 - - - 66
T6 ILONEN, Mikko* -6 18 -6 66 - - - 66
T6 MOLINARI, Francesco -6 18 -6 66 - - - 66
T6 DAVIES, Rhys -6 18 -6 66 - - - 66
T13 RAMSAY, Richie* -5 18 -5 67 - - - 67
T13 WALL, Anthony* -5 18 -5 67 - - - 67
T13 CANONICA, Emanuele* -5 18 -5 67 - - - 67
T13 SLUITER, Tim -5 18 -5 67 - - - 67
T13 DODD, Stephen -5 18 -5 67 - - - 67
T13 LARRAZÁBAL, Pablo -5 18 -5 67 - - - 67
T13 BJÖRN, Thomas -5 18 -5 67 - - - 67
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