The first Italian Open to be held at Gardagolf came down to the wire with two of the European Tour’s finest players – Bernhard Langer and José María Olazábal – going head-to-head in a contest for the ages.
When teeing it up in 1997 both men were Major Champions, Langer had won the Masters Tournament in 1985 and again in 1993 before handing over the Green Jacket to Olazábal the following year, and the pair arrived in northern Italy with a total of 51 European Tour titles between them.
Langer, who overcame Seve Ballesteros and Ken Brown in a play-off to win the 1983 Italian Open, started the final round three shots behind leader Olazábal but fired himself up the leaderboard with a closing 64 – which is still the course record at Gardagolf today.
After battling the putting yips Langer chose to swap to a long putter in 1996, and although he was still adapting to that change in Italy in May of 1997 the German holed a tricky birdie putt from the edge of the 18thgreen to card an eight under par 64 and set Olazábal with a target of 15 under par.
The Spaniard was also on fine form in Brescia, and pegged it up at the uphill 18th hole knowing he was tied at the top with Langer.
A hooked drive went left, straight into the path of a tree which is known as the ‘Olazábal Tree’ by members at Gardagolf, and led to Langer lifting his 36thEuropean Tour title.
“It was a beautiful week, a gorgeous golf course and a beautiful area,” Langer said. “It was my first tournament win with a long putter, which was obviously very important as it gave me confirmation that I could win with the long putter – a very drastic move after playing with the short putter for 22 years.
“I also remember that it was a very dramatic finish. I played very well on Sunday and although I don’t remember all of the details I birdied the last hole by holing a putt from the edge of the green to beat José María by just one shot.
“José María has one of the best short games that you’ll ever see – it was the same with Seve. I recall being in a play-off at the Italian Open with Seve in Florence, and I was fortunate enough to win that one, so it seems like my Italian Opens have come in play-offs!
“You never knew how José María would finish the hole – he could hole bunker shots, chip in and make long putts – and he was an extremely fantastic competitor who at the same time is a very, very good friend.”
For Langer, his second win on Italian soil came in a country, and a golf course, which he was very fond of.
“I always enjoyed going to Italy,” he said. “The golf courses were very similar to Germany, with the same grasses, but maybe the greens were slightly faster and better at times.
“I could quite often drive to the venues, I love Italian food and I love the language which was great to listen too even if I didn’t understand what they were saying!
“You had to drive it well there and if you did that then you could attack certain holes. It was a good combination of hard holes and difficult ones – it was a very good test of golf.
“What I remember most is the beauty of the area though. I was awestruck by the landscape and just being by the lake and in the foothills of The Alps.”
