Somehow it is always America that makes the news at the Italian Open. In Cervia, at the Adriatic Golf Club, on the eve there was a lot of talk about Patrick Reed, the US super champion who had become a star-striped symbol in the Ryder Cup so much so as to be nicknamed Captain America, and who is certainly the most powerful player in history personal he won the Masters in 2018 and for ability among all those present at the Open.
At the end of the first round, the cover went to Andrea Pavan, Roman, very Italian, but who moved to the States for love many years ago. He married the beautiful Audra, they had three children and live happily in Lucas, Texas.
He was in the lead on Thursday. Yesterday, however, another American stole the show, Gunner Wiebe, much less famous than Reed, but still capable of taking two rounds well under par into the clubhouse (64, 69 for a total of -9).
Wiebe is a son of art - father Mark won twice on the PGA Tour - and is an honest navigator of the lower parts of the DPWorld Tour rankings. He is 35 years old, born in Colorado, and has played almost everywhere without ever winning .
We can see that the air of Romagna inspires him, we will find out whether he will really manage to make a change in his somewhat anonymous career, we will find out today and tomorrow.
Andrea Pavan, statements
A bit of bad luck And the Italians? Let's start with the total number: 20 started, nine passed the cut which fell to -1.
Before talking about disappointment, we must remember that a year ago, at the Marco Simone in Rome, three out of sixteen made it to the weekend. So we can moderately celebrate. Pavan, the best on Thursday, slowed down yesterday, but not only his fault.
He finished with a +2 for the day which means a ninth place overall at -5 (64, 73). "I know I played a little less well than Thursday, but not that bad. I played better than the result says, I had a bit of bad luck on the 9th and 17th and I paid for certain situations." Above all, the 9th was painful: a slightly open drive to the right, the ball falls just under the trees in a place where the grass is short and there are a lot of people, but it mysteriously disappears and no one can find it anymore.
Pavan paid with two missed shots, the very ones that ultimately took him away from the top of the standings. "The wind was spinning quite a bit and it was a bit difficult to understand. But everything is still possible. The field is defending itself very well, we are all there and no one is running away.
Anything can happen." With the same score as Pavan there is Edoardo Molinari, the real Italian surprise of the day. Dodo finished two weeks ago in Holland in 29th place, his best position of 2024. In Cervia he played a solid round with 4 birdies and just one bogey which improved Thursday's score (69, 68).
It's a period in which he's playing well even if the results aren't coming. On the eve of the match he had many doubts about the difficulty of the pitch, but after two rounds he too had to admit that Adriatic was proving to be tough: "I played quite well on a pitch that was even more difficult than the first round.
The flags were hidden, difficult to take, I think it was a really good lap. Now I'm ready for the weekend and I'll give my all to get the best result possible." Matteo Manassero and Guido Migliozzi, the two Italians who will participate in the Paris Games at the beginning of August, will also play over the weekend.
Their result was important, they always attract the public and can accomplish the feat at any time, as Migliozzi demonstrated last week by winning in the Netherlands. Manassero ended the day in par (68, 71) with two birdies and two bogeys: "But mine was a flat round only in terms of the score, for the rest it was a tough fight.
The course wasn't easy, the wind was spinning, the flags were in difficult positions, I found myself in difficulty maybe even after a few good shots. It was a tiring lap." Migliozzi recovered after Thursday's difficulties (71, 70) and narrowly escaped.
Better was Filippo Celli who at a certain point dreamed but was held back by a bad double bogey on 7: "But I'm still very happy, a few wrong shots cost me dearly in both rounds. I'm very positive for the weekend Golf is a game of patience, in bad moments you have to have a lot of patience and think positively." Disappointment instead for Francesco Laporta, sixth on Thursday and out of the cut yesterday. When he turns badly, he turns badly. It happens.
