ROME – Adam Scott’s victory at the opening World Golf Championship event of the season on Sunday, will have put Australians across the globe in a celebratory mood. For their Italian counterparts however, the outlook is much bleaker. Italian golf is currently undergoing its worst slump in a decade and with the Olympics around the corner, prospecting for gold appears increasingly unlikely.

 Former Masters champion Scott bounced back from a shaky start on the final day, to fire an impressive round of three under par and claim the Cadillac Championship for his second win in as many weeks. The Australian, who picked up the Honda Classic title last Sunday, held off a stellar field including Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson at Trump National Doral in Miami, to continue his impressive start to the 2016 season. Victory in such an important tournament will taste even sweeter for Scott, as not only does it cement his return to the top table of golf’s élite, the win also greatly improves his chances of competing for Australia at Rio 2016.

 Entry requirements for the World Golf Championships are renowned for their stringency and can often be stricter than those for golf’s major tournaments. In the case of this edition of the Cadillac Championship, 68 players were eligible, including 48 of the world’s top 50 and just 65 completed the four rounds. Particularly troubling for Italian golf aficionados is the fact that Italy’s finest failed even to qualify for the tournament, let alone have a chance to win and this is symptomatic of the country’s recent fortunes in the sport.

 Flashback to the 2010 Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and Italian golf was enjoying somewhat of a Renaissance. Both Francesco and Edoardo Molinari formed an integral part of Colin Montgomerie’s winning team. In addition, Matteo Manassero had become the youngest player ever to make a cut at the Masters, breaking a record, which had lasted since 1967, and was on the cusp of becoming the youngest winner in European Tour history, in October of the same year.

 Manassero, who has won four times on Tour since 2010 and is widely viewed as Italy’s great hope for the future, is currently languishing at 796^th in the Official World Golf Rankings, a far cry from his position in the top 30 during 2013. The career of Edoardo Molinari has suffered a similar fate in recent times, with the former Ryder Cupper now sitting 485^th in the rankings.

 By contrast, Francesco Molinari is faring rather better than his compatriots and currently occupies 80^th place, however this doesn’t hide the fact that Francesco’s career path is also on a disappointing trajectory. In November 2010 victory at another World Golf Championship, the HSBC Champions, which takes place annually in Shanghai, moved the Italian into the world’s top 20 players, but Molinari has struggled to find consistency in recent times.

 This year marks a crucial time for golf across the globe, as not only is the Ryder Cup hovering on the horizon for players, the sport will be contested in the Olympics for the first time in history. With qualification for the latter based loosely on the top 60 in the rankings, it’s crucial for Molinari to find some semblance of form in the months ahead. At London 2012, Italy registered an impressive 28 medals of which eight were of the vaunted gold variety. It appears a long shot for Molinari to join the ranks of successful Olympians, but should he qualify for Rio, he will remain as Italy’s sole hope of a golfing success story. 

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