Pablo Larrazábal is one of the four players who have managed to beat the course after 36 holes of the Estrella Damm NA Andalucía Masters, a European Tour tournament played this week at Real Club Valderrama. At the moment, the Barcelona player shares second place with the Welshman Jaime Donaldson and the Scotsman Connor Syme with -1 in the accumulated, just two strokes behind the American John Catlin, the solo leader.
The Sanroqueño route continues with high defenses and the demand for its impeccable holes continues to be reinforced by the lift, a decisive factor in our competition. Even so, the Barcelona man (and other Spaniards, such as Alejandro Cañizares) consider the wind to be an ally more than an enemy and they trust that it will continue to blow in the next two days. For now, Larrazábal has come off very well in the first two matches this week, although he is critical of the quality of his game. Anyway, he knows that in a field like Valderrama, efficiency must be put before aesthetics, the result over the photo. Beauty is set by the Sotogrande countryside.
“I still don’t play well, but I’ve managed to keep the ball in play, which is what Valderrama is all about. I have known how to play this field ”, Larrazábal recapitulated at the end of his return. “I have come knowing where it came from. You have to arrive in Valderrama with a full tank of patience and I bring two tanks. They can beat me at stake, but in patience, no. If on another course I had finished with three putts on 17 and bogey to the last hole, I would not be smiling. “
The El Prat player was one of the few golfers capable of beating the course on a somewhat less windy second day, but just as rigorous as the first. The key, a clear game plan for a field like Valderrama.
“I play like Valderrama has taught me that I have to play here. You don’t come to make a lot of birdies, but to make the fewest possible mistakes. It is not exactly a coarse game, it is a not very pretty game for the eyes that do not understand it ”, summarized Larrazábal.
Alejandro Cañizares also managed to beat Valderrama in the second set and ended up very satisfied. The man from Malaga, who has never missed the cut in the five previous editions he has played in the tournament, is a professional on the field from Cádiz and knows how to face the challenge he poses, although he did not arrive with the best feelings after a tough British tour.
“I have played better, this is my field and I am comfortable, it is good for me to have a lot of wind. After the last tournaments, as if not to be happy ”, explained Cañizares. “Here I feel comfortable, this is one of my favorite fields in the world and it suits my game well because you don’t need to hit it very hard. This is a very special field, with its design and personality it makes a fool of the theory that today you have to hit 330 yards and weigh 120 kg of muscle. Here you have to play with the ball, you have to have more art, “finished the Spaniard.
Also at the top of the ranking is Álvaro Quirós, thirteenth with +3, who rationalized some last error and saw the positive side of a tournament whose victory was not so far in 2019.
“My pending subject has nothing to do with the leadership, nor almost with the field. I have the fight with myself and with my game. I know that there are three or four blows that are key for me and that I don’t have the resources to face them. In spite of everything, it is my second haircut of the year, so I am very happy, under the mask I have a smile from ear to ear ”, explained the man from Guadia.
The Spaniards will see them during the weekend with a qualified squad of foreign rivals who, until now, have known how to correctly read the keys of Valderrama. Among them the leader, the young American John Catlin (-3), who already has two places in the top ten on the European Tour since the competition was resumed, Jaime Donaldson, key player in the 2014 Ryder Cup, and a combination of seniority and youth led by the new pearl of South African golf, Wilco Nienaber (even), the Danish Soren Kjeldsen (+1), specialist in Valderrama and winner of the Volvo Masters 2008, or the German Martin Kaymer (+2), winner of two majors and former number one in the world.
In any case, the toughness of the Real Club Valderrama (the cut has been established at +7) and the tightness of the classification opens the range of applicants. In addition to the aforementioned Spaniards, Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño (18º, +4), Nacho Elvira, Pedro Oriol, Jorge Campillo, Sebastián García Rodríguez and Pep Angles (26º, +5), Adrián Otaegui will also play at Valderrama and Carlos Pigem (37º, +6) and Alfredo García-Heredia (52º, +7).
The Estrella Damm NA Andalucía Masters, European Tour tournament valid for the Race to Dubai that is held thanks to the essential collaboration of Real Club Valderrama, is sponsored by Estrella Damm and the Ministry of Tourism, Regeneration, Justice and Local Administration of the Junta de Andalucía, in addition to being co-financed with European funds and declared an event of exceptional public interest by the Government of Spain. The tournament is also supported by Rolex, Exterior Plus, Santander Private Banking and Shell. Callaway, Coca-Cola, Enterprise, Grupo Raga, Kyocera, Marca, Maui Jim, the Royal Andalusian Golf Federation, Riversa, Varma and Volvo are official suppliers.
