ITALIAN OPEN
Site: Fiano, Italy.
Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.
Course: Royal Park I Roveri (7,272 yards, par 72).
Purse: $1.91 million. Winner’s share: $319,040.
Television: Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday, 5:30-9:30 a.m.; Saturday, 4-8 a.m.; Sunday, 4:30-8:30 a.m.).
Last year: England’s Robert Rock won his first European Tour title, beating Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen and England’s Gary Boyd by a stroke.
Last week: Sweden’s Peter Hanson won the KLM Open in the Netherlands, holing a 35-foot eagle putt on the final hole for a two-stroke victory.
Notes: Ryder Cup player Francesco Molinari tops the Italian contingent along with brother Edoardo Molinari, Matteo Manassero and Costantino Rocca. Fellow European Ryder Cup players Martin Kaymer and Nicolas Colsaserts also are in the field along with captain Jose Maria Olazabal, Rock, Robert Karlsson, Colin Montgomerie, Rich Beem and Todd Hamilton. ... Francesco Molinari won the 2006 tournament. He won the Spanish Open in May. ... Rock won the Abu Dhabi Championship in January. ... The tour is off next week. The Ryder Cup is Sept. 28-30 at Medinah in Illinois.
