The Florida Swing rounds off this week with the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Bay Hill, near Orlando, where the world's golf elite gathers today through Sunday for one of the most glamorous tournaments on the circuit. Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, Adam Scott, Henrik Stenson, Francesco Molinari are just some of the prominent players, in a selected field of 120 participants. The course is a par 72 of 6700 metres; defends the title Matt Every.
The stakes are medium, for the PGA Tour: 6,3 million dollars, 1,340 thousand dollars for the first, 500 Fedex points to the winner. But being admitted to the Arnold Palmer tournament is already a privilege, because it means being part of the exclusive club of the champions of this sport. Attention will be mainly attracted by Rory McIlroy and Jason Day, who are fighting just a few hundredths of a point away for second and third place in the world rankings, while Jordan Spieth, staying at home, does not jeopardize his first position.
One of the great expected protagonists is Adam Scott, winner of two very important tournaments such as the Honda Classic and the WGC Cadillac; while Francesco Molinari is unfortunately still on a downward spiral and in six tournaments on American soil he has not yet gone beyond 33rd place. This will be his seventh round and he will have to give his all to move up a few positions in the ranking where he slipped to 81st position. The context is highly prestigious and it is hoped that Francesco will put the prestigious invitation to good use.
Arnold Palmer's tournament from next year will become even more important: Tim Finchem, commissioner of the Pga Tour, has announced that, from 2017, the prize money of the race will rise to 8,7 million dollars and the exemption for the winner will become three years.
“Arnold Palmer – Finchem said – is undoubtedly one of the most important figures in the history of professional golf, because he increased the popularity of the sport with his exciting style. This tournament is part of his legacy and we have decided to work together to further raise his stature."
In this happy context, the only discordant note is the fact that Sky Sport, inexplicably, despite having the tournament, has decided not to broadcast it. For the second week in a row, therefore, the Italian public will have to give up golf on TV and fall back on what can be seen online. A truly disappointing choice at a time when Italy needs to promote golf, given the great commitments that the Federation has undertaken for the next few years.
In this regard, it should be noted that, in recent days, the FIG has chosen the general manager of the "2022 Ryder Cup Project". We are talking about Gian Paolo Montali, from Parma, born in 1960, former volleyball coach, former sports manager of prestigious football clubs such as Juventus and Rome.
