After a 2010 season blighted by niggling injuries, Costantino Rocca is hoping to roar his way back into the winner’s circle on the 2011 European Senior Tour as he bids to make his own contribution to Italian golf’s current state of rude health.
The days of Rocca doing it own his own for Italy are long gone with the emergence of the magnificent Molinari brothers, Edoardo and Francesco, along with teenage sensation Matteo Manassero, on the world stage.
He would never admit it personally, but if it were not for Rocca pioneering Italian golf in the modern era then we may never have seen such a tidal wave of success in the Italian game, such was Rocca’s impact on golf in his homeland when he broke into Europe’s Ryder Cup side in the early 1990s before missing out in a play-off for The 1995 Open Championship at St Andrews.
Those days may have passed for the 55 year old from Bergamo, but his days of collecting trophies are far from over as he targets the new season to add to the two Senior titles he won in Bahrain and Ireland in 2007.
“I hope that these injuries are now over,” said Rocca. “I didn’t play well at all last year because I had a few small injuries that wouldn’t clear up to let me play my normal game.
“My shoulder gave me a lot of trouble last year but it started to feel a bit better in Mauritius in December so I hope to continue from there.
“I have not been enjoying the game because I have been playing with some pain and have not been comfortable on the course, but I still believe that I can win tournaments on the Senior Tour if I can get over my injuries.
“The most important thing for me is to enjoy golf again, because it has been very tough to try and play through injuries and not scoring the way I know I can.”
Rocca’s endearing modesty means that he takes little credit for blazing the trail that Manassero and the Molinaris are now following, but it is impossible to escape the overwhelming sense of pride that emanates from him when talking about Italian golf’s new generation.
“It would be great to start winning again to show the new boys that I can still do it. Seeing Edoardo and Francesco in the top 50 of the world, and also Matteo making such a good start to his career, is great news for Italian golf.
“It is different to when I was playing because I was on my own, but hopefully the boys can keep getting better and winning tournaments and who knows, we might have three players in the top 50 this year and have Italian players with a good chance of winning one of the Major tournaments.”
