By Larry Canning
GATHER up the wives, mothers and grandma’s, Uncle Larry is about to expose himself. I’m going out on a limb which is about as thin as the shaft in my Cleveland 58 degree wedge and declaring Italy the winners of the 2016 World Cup of Golf. And its day one and they haven’t even hit off yet.
This decision didn’t come quickly though, it took all of ½ an hour of watching Matteo Manessero and Francesco Molinari beating range balls into a pretty filthy cold wind and let me tell you, it was pretty impressive.
With the exception of Adam Scott, who has just reminded me why he is on Uncle Larry’s short list of all-time great ball strikers, the two Pizza Eaters didn’t miss a single shot and combined it with a pure, shallow strike which pierced the wind like a dart.
Practicing into the teeth of a cold squall like that exposes every slight flaw in side spin unless you’ve learnt how to pick the thing off the tight Kingston Heath couch with just the correct amount of force.
Molinari and Manessero have mastered it and If the latter can find a putter grip to get around the early onset of the yips, they will win by 1 from Australia. If by chance I’m wrong… I might have to lie low for a little while… Or as the Italians say: “Arrivederci myself” .
