MILAN, Italy, 6 May 2005 — Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, who turned his back on a business career in 2003 to pursue his dream of making it as a golf professional, saw that decision pay dividends yesterday when he clinched the first round lead in the Italian Open.
Fernando-Castano carded a six under par 66 to take a one stroke lead at the Castello di Tolcinasco Golf Club with five players sharing second place on a day when an afternoon thunderstorm caused play to be suspended with half the field still to complete their rounds.
Irelands Gary Murphy, Englands Simon Khan, Welshman Bradley Dredge and Argentine Sebastian Fernandez were safely in the clubhouse after rounds of 67 while Frenchman Francois Delamontagne was lying on five under with four holes to play.
Two years ago Fernandez-Castano completed a business degree in Madrid and it was only after winning the Spanish Amateur Closed Championship in 2003, being part of the winning team in both the Bonallack Trophy and the Palmer Cup and some good results in European Tour events, that he decided to join the professional ranks last September.
Meanwhile, Mark Calcavecchia, Open Champion in 1989, may have had other things on his mind, such as his marriage later in the afternoon to fiancée Brenda, as he struggled to a six over par 78. After his morning round, the couple were heading off to Lake Como to get married before returning for today’s second round. In a touching gesture Brenda, who was caddying for the 44-year-old, wrote on two golf balls I do. Unfortunately Calcavecchia mis-read them and thought they said 100, and told her: “You haven’t got much faith in me.”
