He might well be making a name for himself in the business world outside the ropes, but Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño will remind everyone in golf of his talent on the fairways this week when he defends his title in the Methorios Capital Italian Open.
Twelve months ago the affable Spaniard claimed his third European Tour victory at the beautiful Castello di Tolcinasco Golf and Country Club on the outskirts of Milan when he recovered a five shot deficit at the start of the final round to eventually beat Austria’s Markus Brier at the second hole of a sudden-death play-off.
The aftermath produced some of the best post-tournament pictures of the entire season as the 27 year old from Madrid was thrown into the club’s swimming pool by his compatriots in celebration, with the trophy tossed in alongside him for good measure.
In many ways it was an appropriate destination for Fernandez-Castaño to find himself for he has been making a splash off the course too with the continued success of his company – GFC Golf and Business – who successfully promoted the MAPFRE Open de Andalucia by Valle Romano, won by Thomas Levet, at the end of March.
But it is on the golf course where the winner of the 2005 KLM Open and the 2006 BMW Asian Open wants to make the biggest impression and he admitted he was delighted to be returning to one of his favourite venues of the season.
“I actually hadn’t been playing all that well last season before I won but I think a large part of the reason that I did was because I just love coming to Italy,” he said. “I have a lot of good friends here and I think we all enjoyed it and had a great week with great food, a great course and great people.
“It is such a superb tournament with such a long tradition, that I could not have been happier to have won. It felt wonderful at the time and I am very much looking forward to coming back and trying to successfully defend the title.”
As always a strong field has assembled, all hoping to stop Fernandez-Castaño doing just that, including a host of players who know precisely what it takes to win a European Tour title.
Included in that number is the man who will spearhead the host nation’s challenge, Francesco Molinari, who gave Italian sport one of its most memorable days two years ago when he took the Italian Open crown at Castello di Tolcinasco G&CC and, in doing so, became the first home winner of the event since Massimo Mannelli in 1980.
While this will be the fifth successive year that Castello di Tolcinasco G&CC has hosted the event, it will be the first time the tournament will be backed by corporate finance company Methorios Capital. With expertise in asset management, financial services and investment banking, the company is a valuable addition to the family of sponsors on The European Tour.
“We are delighted to become involved in an event as prestigious as the Italian Open,” said Fabio Palumbo, Chairman of Methorios Capital. “To be associated with this great championship is a great honour and we hope that Methorios Capital can play a part in enhancing Italy’s most important tournament.”
