Luca Galliano in 4th place in Starnberg
19.08.2021
Heavy rainfall, an hour-long interruption on the first day and major postponements of the starting times on all tournament days once again characterised the events on the Pro Golf Tour this week. From the Swiss point of view, however, there was at least a happy ending at the Starnberg Open, which was endowed with 30,000 euros: Luca Galliano was able to move up to 4th place in the rankings in the final round on Wednesday and Robert Foley also ranked in the prize money for the second time in his second tournament as a professional.
Many birdie chances, but an ice-cold putter
"A good week for me, I played really well from tee to green, gave myself a lot of birdie chances and I'm very happy with 4th place," said Luca Galliano on Wednesday evening after the tournament ended. In the first round, he had putted for birdie on every green, "but my putter was ice cold, even several short putts didn't fall, that's why I only played par," explained the Ticino native. In the second round, things went a little better on the greens, but Galliano's putter was not really hot on Tuesday either - starting the round with an eagle, the 35-year-old ended up signing a card of 68 (3-under par). It wasn't until Wednesday afternoon's final round that the putts started to fall: Two under par for the front nine, as well as bogey-free back nine with four birdies meant a closing round of 65 and a move up to fourth place, giving confidence for the last three tournaments of the season: "I feel good and ready for the next events. My goal remains to finish the season in the top-5 of the Order of Merit," says Galliano, who is ranked 7th in the annual rankings after the tournament in Starnberg.
Marco Iten is also pursuing the same goal. The player from Zurich had bad luck at the last two tournaments in Bavaria and could not finish his first round on the first day due to heavy rainfall. This led to an early restart of the round the next day and subsequently to ultra-long days on the golf course. "This week I was able to hit my first tee shot on Monday afternoon, then the heavens opened and the course was under water within seconds," Iten explains. The tournament was interrupted and only resumed the next morning. "On the first day I went exactly 200 metres," says the 31-year-old with a touch of humour. Iten completed the first eleven holes of his starting round flawlessly - "I had a birdie chance on every hole" - and was also at 3-under par up to that point, but then his long game let him down. Annoying, as the long game is actually his great strength this season. "With the many time shifts and the very long days, I lost the thread a bit," says Iten looking back. With rounds of 71 and 74 (3 over par), he failed to make the cut of +2. Currently third in the Order of Merit, his chances of a top-5 finish at the end of the season are still intact and the man from Zurich is also very confident for the upcoming tournaments: "I have good memories of the courses in the Czech Republic, they suit me."
Neo-professional Robert Foley also has a good chance of a top-5 finish at the end of the year and thus a promotion to the Challenge Tour. The Lausanne native celebrated his first victory on the Pro Golf Tour at the end of July (still as an amateur); after a shared 33rd place last week and 13th place this week in Starnberg, the 24-year-old is now ranked 4th on the Order of Merit. Foley was also unlucky in the draw, having to take to the course in the afternoon session on Monday and leaving after two holes. "52 holes in two days is quite a workload; but I feel good physically and mentally," said the Frenchman on Wednesday evening. Like Marco Iten, however, he does not want to complain. "I had to fight in all three rounds on the first five or six lanes to find my way into the game. That doesn't exactly make things easier," Foley said. In Starnberg, he played rounds of 69, 71 and 67 strokes and shone in the final round with six birdies.
Article retrieved from www.swissgolf.ch
Photo: Luca Galliano | @Stefan Heigl
