Nobody would ever dare accuse Costantino Rocca as being a person who lacks mental courage. And further proof, if any was required, of the Italian's nerves of steel was demonstrated in the white-heat of Ryder Cup battle at Valderrama yesterday.
Five years ago to the day, his rookie appearance in the match at The Belfry prompted tabloid character assassinations and headlines like "Rocca the Choke-a" when he lost to Davis Love III in his singles. He was an easy target. It was conveniently forgotten that, on that September 26th day, Peter Baker was three up with five to play and lost while, of the Europeans behind him, Seve Ballesteros, Jose-Maria Olazabal and Bernhard Langer all lost, and Nick Faldo only halved.
That's history now. Yesterday, Rocca was the strong man in assisting Olazabal to a one hole win over Phil Mickelson and, ironically, Love in the fourball; but fate dealt the same pairing a cruel hand in the foursomes when, despite winning the 16th and 17th holes to draw level, they lost out on the final green to a birdie three from opponents Scott Hoch, another in his time labelled a "choker," and Lee Janzen.
Rocca's route to the top of professional golf has been a tough one. He's the "cinderella" who rose from eight years in a box factory in his home town of Bergamo to the most glamorous tee-boxes of all. He certainly doesn't do things the easy way.
Remember that 60 foot putt to tie John Daly in the British Open at St Andrews in 1995? And his hole-in-one in inspiring Europe to Ryder Cup glory at Oak Hill that same year?
He has learned things the hard way, especially that singles loss to Love. On the 17th, that day, he missed a four-foot putt. "I swayed when standing over the putt," he recalls. Afterwards, his wife Antonella would wake in the middle of the night to find Rocca replaying the putt over and over again on video tape. "I wanted to make sure I never made a mistake like that again."
An indication of how far he has come was shown by the trust handed to Rocca and Olazabal yesterday, Europe's captain Ballesteros giving them the responsibility of playing in the top match in both the fourball and the foursomes. The Italian contributed three birdies in the fourball engagement when coming from two down after 11 holes to eventually win by one.
A similar fightback was enacted in the foursomes in the Spanish twilight, producing drama and excitement and a bizarre end to a bizarre day.
With the sunlight fading, Rocca and Olazabal were two down with three to play, the Italian sinking a tricky five-footer to halve the 15th. On the 16th, Hoch pushed his tee-shot into trees on the right.
Janzen had no option other than to chip out - and the Europeans went on to win the hole in par, Rocca calmly sinking a fourfooter, to reduce the deficit to one.
On the 17th, Rocca's tee-shot gave Olazabal the opportunity to go for the green in two. Ballesteros, who redesigned the hole, jumped from his buggy and gently suggested to Olazabal that a three-wood into the bank on the right was the route to take. Olazabal obliged, and Rocca again showed his composure - and deft touch - to chip dead for a winning birdie to level the match.
The play of the 18th was totally bizarre. Olazabal, pumped up, hit a huge tee-shot but slightly left - and the ball flew straight into a rubbish bin. The Americans were equi-distant, but in the middle of the fairway. Rocca, of course, got a free drop from the plastic container and, yet again, showed nerves of steel, hitting a six iron 155 yards over trees to the elevated green, finishing 12 feet from the flag. Janzen responded with an approach to 10 feet. Olazabal missed his putt, Hoch sank his.
