Nick Dougherty today launches an llth-hour bid for the Italian Open victory that narrowly eluded him last year, only 48 hours after his mother's funeral following a heart attack.
The 25-year-old, who finished a stroke behind 2007 Italian Champion Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano after a second-round 64, had planned to tee off in the conflicting Players Championship before being forced to withdraw while lying 10th in America's Heritage event when his mother, Ennis, was taken ill.
"I would have gone to Sawgrass even though my mum didn't want me to - she was convinced I was going to win this time in Italy," he explained.
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