The dream of a Ryder Cup in Italy, in Rome, in 2022, is taking shape day after day, even if the goal is still far away. A fundamental step on this journey was taken today, with the inspectors' visit to the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club. An inspection that the men called to evaluate the candidate courses have already done in Germany and Spain.
The Bid Management Team, led by Ryder Director Richard Hills, will review the route this morning, weigh up the technical characteristics and assess the logistics of the proposed site. After the Roman stage the team will go to Austria and finally to Portugal, the other countries competing with Italy.
Obtaining a nomination would be an extraordinary recognition for Italian sport and golf and a business not to be underestimated. The Ryder Cup, born in 1927, is the Europe-United States challenge which is held every two years and is assigned alternatively to a European or an American city. In terms of media exposure, this is the third sporting event after the World Cup and the Olympics: with approximately 300.000 spectators; 192 countries connected through a network of 53 television stations and more than 500 million homes reached for each competition day.
Two new grand tour challenges also begin today. For Europe we play in Morocco, with 5 Italians on the field: Matteo Manassero, Renato Paratore, Alessandro Tadini, Marco Crespi and Andrea Pavan. The race is the Trophée Hassan II (March 26-29) and takes place on the course of the Golf du Palais Royal in Agadir. The prize pool is 1,5 million euros, 250 thousand of which for the winner. The tournament is broadcast live on Sky Sports at various times throughout the day.
Unfortunately, in Italy we will not see the American tournament of the week, the Valero Texas Open on the course of the JW Marriott TPC San Antonio, in San Antonio, Texas. It's a beautiful race, with Francesco Molinari still chasing a qualification for the Masters after his good performance at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week, where he finished 17th. The race was won by Matta Every, reigning champion who prevailed over world number two Henrik Stenson. In Texas the field is first class and includes, among others, Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth, Jim Furyk, Dustin Johnson, Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell. The pot is rich: 6,2 million dollars, with 1,116 million of the first coin.
Finally, a few weeks before the Masters, the mystery surrounding Tiger Woods' participation in the first major of the year remains unsolved. There are two signs of hope that have arrived in these days: Nike has put online the wardrobe that Tiger should show off in the four rounds of the Augusta race, while the captain of the Ryder 2016 team, Davis Love III, revealed in an interview that Tiger he told him he will do anything to get into the USA team and that he is working hard to get his game back on track. In short, there's a good chance that he doesn't want to miss another Masters after last year's.
