He won twice in his maiden season of 2007, in Bahrain and Italy, and would be named the Rookie of the Year.
Rocca was Italy’s first golfing star and a forefather to the likes of the Molinari brothers and Matteo Manassero.
He played in 501 DP World Tour events, winning five during his 23 years on the Tour.
After holing an incredible putt from the Valley of Sin at St Andrews’ 18th hole, Rocca was famously then runner-up to John Daly in the 1995 Open Championship.
He finished 5th in The Masters in 1997 and played the final round in the final pairing – with a certain Tiger Woods, who would claim the Green Jacket.
Rocca was the first Italian to play in a Ryder Cup when he made the 1993 European team at The Belfry. He would make two more appearances in the team event, 1995 at Oak Hill and then 1997 at Valderrama where he would beat Tiger Woods 4&2 in the Sunday singles.