Making it Fab
Zanotti wants to put country on golf map
SUBANG: Paraguayan No. 1 golfer Fabrizio Zanotti (pic) wants to show there is more to his country than just football.
The 34-year-old is the defending champion for the Maybank Championship starting today and is hoping to achieve his lifelong ambition of putting his country on the world map by winning a Major title one day.
“It’s my dream to win a Major. If I can accomplish that, it would be great for my career.
“That’s what I have been working hard for since the day I decided to become a pro golfer,” said Zanotti, who finished tied 46th at the 2014 US PGA Championship for his best Major outing to date.
Despite having two European Tour titles under his belt and currently ranked 97th in the world, Zanotti is virtually unknown not only to golf fans internationally but also in his own country.
Asked if he’s a popular figure in his native country, he quipped: “I think I’m okay. People actually start to know me a little bit, but to be honest, golf is not that big in Paraguay.
“There are only six golf courses there.
“Everyone only talks about football. In South America, football is everything.
“But the golf scene is slowly growing there. There’s a group of talented amateurs coming through a development programme. Hopefully it gets better.”
Besides Zanotti, the other two notable Paraguayan golfers are Carlos Franco – his mentor who won four times on the US PGA Tour – and Julieta Granada, a one-time winner on the US LPGA Tour.
Zanotti is feeling upbeat ahead of his title defence at the Saujana Golf and Country Club.
He intends to repeat the last year’s feat that saw him overcoming a six-shot deficit to beat American David Lipsky by a stroke.
Zanotti did it in style, eagling the par-five 18th to close with a 63 for 19-under total.
“During the pro-am on Tuesday, when I played the 18th, I saw the place where I holed the putt and it was just a really good day, a really good round and I wont forget those memories.
“I am looking forward to it (title defence) a lot but I’m not thinking about it too much.
“It’s not often you defend a title, so I am just trying to enjoy the week.”