Golf: Molinari back for Las Vegas event

(ANSA) - ROME, OCT 5 - Two months after his last competition, Italy's no 1 golfer Francesco Molinari, winner of its only major at the 2018 Open, is returning for the Shriners Children's Open in Las Vegas this week.
    The tournament, running from Thursday through Sunday, also marked the Piedmeont man's return last year after seven months off - though he failed to make the cut.
    The field at the TPC Summerlin course includes three of the Americans who thumped Europe 19-9 in the Ryder Cup: Brooks Koepka, Harris English and Scottie Scheffler.
    Also featuring are three of disappointed Europeans in England's Paul Casey and Ian Poulter, and Norway's Viktor Hovland.
    Many big names are missing including world number one Jon Rahm, who is busy at the Spanish Open this week.
    But it is still a highly competitive field including current Masters champ Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, Mexico's Abraham Ancer and the Americans Patrick Reed, Sam Burns (fresh form his success at the Sanderson Farms Championship), Kevin Na (winner of this event in 2011 and 2020) and Webb Simpson (2014 winner ) among the favourites.
    In with a chance too are South Africa's Louis Oosthuzien, il naturalized Slovakian Rory Sabbatini (silver medallist at the Tokyo Olympics), the USA's Will Zalatoris and Englishman Danny Willett, who last week won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland, an event on the European Tour.
    Defending the title is American Martin Laird who in 2020 beat in a playoff his compatriots Austin Cook and Matthew Wolff to secure his first success in seven years on the PGA Tour. (ANSA).