Costantino Rocca is the veteran of the Italian champions still active and his swing, at 58 years old, is as powerful and precise as that of a boy. He was the first blue to win on the big tour, to beat Tiger Woods in a memorable head-to-head in the 1997 Ryder Cup, to come close to winning the '95 British Open, after an epic battle against John Daly, to dominate 5 times on the European Tour. In short, he is someone who knows a lot about golf, even when it comes to the Grand Slam. “My best memory of Augusta – he says – is an 11 on the 15th hole. A truly impossible course”.
Rocca still plays well on the senior tour and occasionally, for fun and for passion, he makes a Proam. It is on one of these occasions that we meet him, at the Bologna Golf Club, to make a forecast for the Masters which starts on Thursday.
“My favorite – he says – is Graeme McDowell, a solid, regular player who has the right maturity for a difficult field like Augusta National. If I had to bet, I'd bet on him." The Northern Irishman has already won a major in his career, the 2010 US Open, so he's a player who doesn't give in to emotion and fear when he's in the presence of a Major. Indeed, in that moment he finds the right concentration. his best finish at the Masters, so far, is twelfth place in 2012. This season he has not yet achieved a victory, but he showed all his grit, if ever there was any need, at the WGC Match Play in February. In Georgia he doesn't start among the favourites, but Rocca could see further than the bookmakers.
“I don't want to hazard predictions about Italians – adds the champion from Bergamo – out of superstition. I'm just saying that they are two star players with the right size to wear the green jacket, because they are precise in the long game, a quality that counts more than many others in Augusta”. Manassero, a few weeks ago, said that one of his goals is to win a Major, could this be the right time? “I don't know – replies Rocca – but Matteo has the talent to win a Grand Slam title. The objective data are on his side, because he is very young and therefore has all the time he wants ahead of him, he has already won four tournaments in his career, at only 20 years old, and above all he has, as they say, the 'head' and this it makes the difference on a golf course, because it distinguishes the great champions from all the others”.
Speaking of great champions, it is inevitable to talk about Tiger Woods: does his absence make this edition of the Masters incomplete? “I don't think so, a Major is a difficult game for everyone, even for Tiger, who couldn't start as a favorite under these conditions. The show will suffer a bit, but there are so many good guys out there and the Augusta National is such a difficult course that there will be surprises”. Will we have a new world number one on Sunday evening? "Maybe. Adam Scott, is number two, and seems the most likely candidate, especially since he came close to an Open Championship and has already won the Masters in 2013. Why shouldn't he repeat this year? For now, however, the number one is still Tiger Woods and I am convinced that this back operation does not represent the end of his career. Tiger will come back as strong as before. He is only 38 years old, he won't miss opportunities to win again, even some Grand Slam tournaments ”.
And the future of Rocca? "I'm enjoying myself today, but I still want to play on the senior tour, at least for a while."
