Double appointment of good level for world golf, with the Azzurri engaged on two fronts. Francesco Molinari remains on the Pga Tour, where he plays the third consecutive race, the Farmers Insurance Open, from Thursday to Sunday, in the splendid park of the Torrey Pines Golf Club in San Diego, California; while Matteo Manassero and Renato Paratore continue their journey in the Desert Swing, in Qatar, for the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, at the Doha Golf Club, from today to Saturday, 24 hours ahead of the traditional game days.
Francesco Molinari's balance for now is on average positive: he passed two cuts, but he didn't shine and he had to settle for a 33rd and a 62nd place. In terms of World Ranking these placements cost him some positions, so much so that he is now number 70 in the world. In reality, the Turinese played quite well, he just needs to find the right concentration and get some rust off after the Christmas break. The field in the USA is always of the highest level and staying afloat already means being very good. Also in Torrey Pines there are many protagonists, starting with Jason Day, Australian, number two in the world, winner of the last major in 2015. In pole position we find Rickie Fowler, fresh from his success in Abu Dhabi, ahead of the number one in the world number three Jordan Speth (finished fifth) and world number three Rory McIlroy (third). Finally Phil Mickelson, a champion who needs no introduction and who plays at home in San Diego. Mickelson immediately kicked into high gear this year with a third-place finish at the CareerBuilder Challenge and fellow citizens are hoping he can capture his 43rd PGA Tour win in his hometown.
Other players to watch are Keegan Bradley, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Hunter Mahan, Jimmy Walker, Justin Rose, Hideki Matsuyama. The prize pool is $6,5 million, the first coin $1,170 million. In Qatar, on the other hand, Matteo Manassero and Renato Paratore are fighting at least to pass the cut and not to repeat last week's disappointing performance. Paratore only missed out on the last 36 holes for one shot and it probably doesn't take much for him to find the right feeling. Manassero is in an endless crisis and in Abu Dhabi he missed the 15th cut in a row, at this point one can only hope that, one day or another, the right light bulb will come back on in his mind.
Star of the tournament is the Spaniard Sergio Garcia, number 12 in the world, on the field for the first time in 2016 and therefore in unpredictable athletic condition. South African Branden Grace defends the title, in excellent form at the moment, with four top ten finishes in the first four races held this year. The prize pool is 2,3 million euros, almost 400 thousand euros for the first. Both appointments are broadcast live on Sky Sports.
