Jun4 Rocca in Wales

European Ryder Cup player Costantino Rocca has joined the race for one of the biggest prize funds in European Seniors golf in the Ryder Cup Wales Seniors Open which takes place next week at Conwy Golf Club from 15th to 17th June.

Joining the European Seniors Tour at the beginning of 2007, Ryder Cup star Costantino Rocca, who has represented Europe three times, has joined an impressive field for the £500,000 event, the second most lucrative event on the European Seniors Tour after The Senior Open Championship, presented by Aberdeen Asset Management.

Costantino Rocca commented “After 15 years on Tour, and not having that much time off, I stopped playing in October and started again in April. I felt I needed the time to relax and to prepare for the next part of my career and this break has helped me a lot mentally.

“The Ryder Cup Wales Seniors Open is set to be my fourth appearance as a Senior and I am looking forward to it immensely. I have played five times in the Celtic Manor Wales Open on The European Tour and always enjoyed my trips to Wales. The Seniors tournaments may be different, but the desire to win is just as strong.”

Rocca, who turned 50 in December last year, became a true champion when he won the 1996 PGA Championship at Wentworth Club, having graduated through the Challenge Tour in 1989. He has just celebrated his first win as a Senior golfer at the AIB Irish Seniors Open at the PGA National Ireland golf course.

He has won five times on The European Tour, where he was ranked 4th in 1996, and has played in three consecutive Ryder Cups (1993, 1995 and 1997). He remains the only Italian to date to have played in this world famous sporting event and is remembered for his crucial singles win by 4 and 2 over Tiger Woods in The 1997 Ryder Cup at Valderrama to help Europe win.

Following swiftly on the heels of the Celtic Manor Wales Open, golf fans will have another chance to see world class international golf when the Seniors event, which is part of the Ryder Cup Wales 2007 ‘Summer of Golf’ programme, takes centre stage in North Wales next week.

Among the star names joining Rocca to battle it out for the first prize of £75,000 will be defending champion and Ryder Cup player José Rivero of Spain – also winner of the opening event of the 2006 season in Barbados. Joining them on the fairways will be England’s Carl Mason – 2005 champion and two-time Seniors Tour Order of Merit winner – and Scotland’s victorious 2002 Ryder Cup Captain Sam Torrance, defending champion of the 2006 Seniors Tour Order or Merit.

For more information about the Ryder Cup Wales Seniors Open and our Summer of Golf programme, please visit www.rydercupwales2010.com or tel 029 2047 4256.