Alex del Rey (+2) continues in the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament, an event on the Japan Tour that usually features a significant presence of non-Japanese guests. The golfer from Madrid has delivered two rounds of 71 strokes on Thursday and Friday, which has been enough to play over the weekend. He will represent not only Spanish golf but also European, as he is the only one present. The cut was set at +3.
Del Rey has experienced two very different days. On the first day, he signed four birdies and five bogeys. A very eventful card. Meanwhile, today he limited the damage and also found it harder to make birdies. There were two birdies and a solitary bogey on the most difficult hole of the course. However, Del Rey always manages to leave his mark. He was the longest of the day on the 12th hole, one of the two used to complete the driving distance statistics. He is sixth overall in the tournament. Where he has lost the most ground is on the greens. That is the key to why he is not closer to the leaders. Let’s remember that this is the first time in ten years that this traditional Japanese golf event features a Spanish golfer.
Specifically, the golfer from La Moraleja is nine strokes behind the leader. The lead is shared by the Japanese Tatsunori Shogenji and Yosuke Tsukada, both at -7. They have a one-stroke advantage over Taiga Nagano, Sang Hee Lee, and Koshiro Maeda. Also in the top 10 are the legendary Ryo Ishikawa and the young American Neal Shipley, both with a score of -4.
Two of the main names this week at the Dunlop Phoenix are Hideki Matsuyama and Nick Dunlap. Interestingly, both share a position just outside the top 10, although their chances of victory remain intact. They are at -3, four strokes off the lead with 36 holes to go. Anything can happen.
