Matteo Manassero believes he is in great shape to win his first European Tour title for almost 12 months.
Italian teenager has eyes on home-soil victory
Matteo Manassero says he is in great shape to win his first European Tour title for almost 12 months, when he tees-up in this week's Sicilian Open at Verdura.
The 18-year-old Italian arrives on home soil in good form after his runner-up finish in Andalucia two weeks ago was followed by a tie-for-sixth in Morocco on Sunday.
Manassero, a winner of two Tour titles - the second of these in Malaysia last year - would have qualified for next month's Masters had he won last week but admits he is not too disappointed at missing out.
He told the European Tour's website: "I don't feel like I have missed out on Augusta. I don't have any sadness about not going there because I have a great chance to win in Italy this week.
Love to win
"And that would be a great achievement. I think everybody would love to win in their home country and I am the same."
As for his chances this weekend, he added: "Last week was a great week and I played some great golf but I made too many bogeys in the final round and Michael (Hoey) played so well that it wasn't to be my week.
"But I have played great in my last two tournaments, so the confidence is there and I feel good about my game, and I am really looking forward to Sicily now."
Daly and Rocca
Seventeen years after they faced each other in a play-off for The Open Championship, John Daly and Costantino Rocca are playing partners again.
Rocca is now 55 and plays nearly all his golf on the Seniors Tour, but 45-year-old Daly is still striving to get back into the big time.
And, no longer a full member of the PGA Tour, he has been travelling the world to try to do it.
After the promise of fourth place at the Qatar Masters early last month, the American then injured his elbow in India.
He was 51st on his return to action at the Transitions Championship in Florida two weeks ago, but last Friday missed the halfway cut at the Hassan Trophy in Morocco.
"Seems like yesterday," he said of his clash with Rocca at St Andrews in 1995.
Rocca made a dramatic 60-foot par putt from the Valley of Sin to force the play-off, but Daly won it to add the Claret Jug to his 1991 USPGA Championship victory.
He should have happy memories as well of the last time he and Rocca were at the same tournament.
That was the 2009 Italian Open in Turin and Daly finished joint runner-up behind Argentina's Daniel Vancsik.
France's Raphael Jacquelin is the defending champion but that was on a different course, Donnafugata.
There is one player in the field who is Augusta-bound, but Thomas Levet is going there to commentate for French television again rather than play.
He partners Daly and Rocca and has something in common with them. He was in a play-off for The Open at Muirfield 10 years ago, but lost at the fifth extra hole to Ernie Els.
Welshman Jamie Donaldson, meanwhile, will hope that his three-eagle 61 on Sunday is a sign of things to come. This is his 249th Tour start and he has yet to win.
England's 51-year-old Barry Lane plays his 681st event, only 25 fewer than record holder Sam Torrance.
Sky Bet make Manassero the clear 13/2 favourite ahead of Belgian Nicolas Colsaert at 10/1 and Welshman Jamie Donaldson at 18s.
