Showing posts with label Francesco Molinari. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Francesco Molinari. Show all posts

Friday, 29 January 2016

Ryder Cup for Tennis Not for Cash


A Ryder Cup-style competition for men's tennis may struggle to win player support, according to former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash.

Teams from Europe and the Rest of the World will compete annually for the Laver Cup, named after 77-year-old Australian tennis legend Rod Laver.

The inaugural edition of the event is scheduled for September 2017.

"I like the concept but I don't know if players will take it seriously," Cash told Radio 5 live sports extra.

The tournament organisers say each six-man team will be captained by a "a legend of the sport", who will pick two wildcards to add to the four players who qualify through "a results-based formula".

The 12-match competition will take place over three days, with each day featuring three singles matches and a doubles match.

The tournament is the brainchild of Team8, the management agency of 17-time grand slam winner Roger Federer, Tennis Australia and Jorge Paulo Lemann, a Brazilian businessman who represented both Brazil and Switzerland as a player in the Davis Cup.

Cash, who won the men's singles title at Wimbledon in 1987, believes the timing of the tournament will discourage the top players from signing up.

"The concept is a great idea, but it's after the US Open and the Davis Cup [semi-finals] - it's stuck in the middle of a tournament," he said.

"With the Davis Cup struggling in some places in the world, I'm not sure we need another tournament to squeeze in."


Sunday, 27 October 2013

Fernandez-Castaño Wins BMW Masters

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Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño produced a stunning final round to win the first Final Series event on The Race to Dubai at the BMW Masters presented by SRE Group.

The Spaniard survived a late wobble at the last – he found two bunkers en route to a double bogey six, but 17 holes of flawless ball striking had given him sufficient room to claim a seventh European Tour title with a closing 68 and 11 under par total at Lake Malaren.

That was one shot ahead of Seve Trophy team-mate Francesco Molinari and Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee, the Italian coming from six shots off the pace at the start of the day.

The Ryder Cup star’s chances looked to have disappeared with a bogey at the 12th despite a front nine of 34, but Molinari then went on a brilliant scoring run, making an eagle on the par five 13th and following that with four birdies in succession to join Fernandez-Castaño on 10 under before eventually completing a superb 64.

Fernandez-Castaño edged back into the lead with a birdie on the 13th and looked to have sealed a comfortable win with further birdies at the 15th and 17th, where he chipped in from just over the green.

He made hard work of the last, though, finding sand off the tee and another bunker with his third shot before holding his nerve to complete his first victory since last year's Open d’Italia.

"I knew it wasn't going to be an easy round, especially the way I started. I started hitting the ball pretty bad," Fernandez-Castaño said. "But my caddie kept me cool and told me how good I had been hitting the ball through the week and I played fantastic after that.

"On the last I played too conservative and it was a fighting six at the end for sure.

“BMW is one of the great supporters of The European Tour through the years, they know how to run events and they make the players feel so comfortable. 

“It's pretty much like playing at home and it's also great to see the crowds this week. I think they have been pretty amazing.”

Guthrie finished two shots behind on nine under after a closing 71, with Thomas Björn, Peter Uihlein and Pablo Larrazábal a shot further back.

Defending champion Peter Hanson finished seven under after a superb closing 63, the Swede having started the tournament - which does not have a halfway cut - with a round of 79.

"I was playing with Paul McGinley, the Ryder Cup Captain, and I guess I wanted to impress him," Hanson joked after a round containing 11 birdies and two bogeys.

"I had no expectations on coming back from injury and I was obviously very rusty on Thursday. But I have felt better and better throughout the week and to finish with a round like that is very pleasing. As a defence, it wasn't bad!"

The win moves Fernandez-Castaño into the top five on The Race to Dubai and greatly improves his chance of a Ryder Cup debut at Gleneagles next year.

“It's perfect timing because it's Ryder Cup qualification period right now,” he added. “It doesn't get any better than this; first event of the first ever Final Series and I got the victory.”

The Final Series remains in China for next week’s WGC-HSBC Champions, before heading to Turkey and then Dubai, where the top 60 will compete for the DP World Tour Championship.



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