Two former Masters Tournament Champions, Trevor Immelman and Mike Weir, will join a host of former European Tour winners and Ryder Cup players at the inaugural Rocco Forte Open – Verdura, Sicily next week.
Weir famously became the first Canadian to win a Major Championship in 2003 after beating American Len Mattiace in a play-off to claim the green jacket.
The left-hander is making his debut in Sicily as he attempts to climb his way back up the Official World Golf Ranking by embarking on a summer on the European circuit.
He will be joined in the idyllic Italian island by South African Trevor Immelman, who joined the elite club of Masters Champions in 2008 when he overcame all the odds by beating 14-time Major winner Tiger Woods by three shots to claim the title.
Former European Tour Number One Robert Karlsson will also be in attendance hoping to add to his 11 titles on the tour as he makes his Sicilian debut.
Home favourite Edoardo Molinari is joined in the field by a plethora of fellow former Ryder Cup players.
The man who hit the winning shot at The 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, Jamie Donaldson of Wales, is joined by The 2018 Ryder Cup Captain Thomas Bjørn, whose appearance in Scotland three years ago was the latest of three as a player.
Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts was one of the stars of the Miracle at Medinah in 2012 and having finished fifth and third in the two times he played at Verdura Resort, in 2011 and 2012, he will be in confident mood.
Englishmen David Howell and Oliver Wilson, as well as Swede Niclas Fasth make up the list of players to have played golf’s greatest team event.
The multiple European Tour winners in the field include Englishmen David Horsey, James Morrison and Anthony Wall as well as Welshman Bradley Dredge, Germany’s Marcel Siem, Ricardo Gonzalez of Argentina and Frenchman Rafael Jacquelin – who won in Sicily in 2011.
The oldest of the Molinari brothers, Edoardo, heads the Italian challenge as the last winner on the European Tour from the southern European nation, and he is joined by a host of young home stars including Matteo Manassero, Renato Paratore and Nino Bertasio.
Many of the European Tour’s most promising up and coming prospects will also be present, including China’s Li Haotong, England’s Jordan Smith and Spain’s Pep Angles.
