On 12 September 2025 he made a birdie at the 9th hole of the Open de Portugal at Royal Óbidos, a tournament on the HotelPlanner Tour, and decided to withdraw from the event because of discomfort in his left wrist. The pain was unbearable and prevented him from swinging normally
This Wednesday, 215 days after that, Álvaro Quirós returned to play an official competitive round of golf. It was at the Campeonato de España de Parejas, which got underway at Izki Golf, an event on the PGA de España calendar and which marks the start of the race to reach the final of the Nin9rs Games
Quirós hit his first official shot from the 1 tee at Izki Golf, partnering with Gonzalo Fernández Castaño and sharing a round with José Manuel Lara and Borja Etchart. Good company. He drove the ball and it ended up on the fairway. Warm cheers of “AQ” from his partner Gonzalo. The man from Guadiaro chose a low stinger into the wind to get back into play. Or rather, he had no other choice. “I couldn’t hit it any other way to make sure at least I get the ball up”, he said with a laugh immediately after the shot
The sensations have been strange on his return. Nothing out of the ordinary after so long without competing. The best news by far is that his wrist did not bother him at all. From that to trying to post a result is a huge gap. Bear in mind that Álvaro had a half‑normal practice session on the driving range last Wednesday, that is, barely a week before his return and more than 200 days after his last official shot. Saying he’s rusty is an understatement…
Quirós has felt odd on his return. “The wrist has been fine, I haven’t had any discomfort, but it has felt strange — the word would be ‘not agile’,” he tells Ten Golf at the end of the round. The discomfort Álvaro feels mainly comes from the grip. Since he first injured his wrist in 2007 he has gradually weakened his grip, opening it more each time. Now he is trying to close it again, to make it firmer, but it’s not something that can be changed overnight. He needs time and patience
The performance by Álvaro and Gonzalo was highly commendable. Considering that neither of them is exactly at one hundred percent, that round of 66 in fourball format is very impressive. They sit in eighth place, two shots off the lead, so they will go out today with chances of victory on the beautiful course at Izki Golf. Joel Moscatel and Kevin Esteve share first place alongside Mario García and Emilio Hernández. There are 13 pairs separated by only two shots. Very tight
“All the credit goes to Gonzalo. He played with pinpoint accuracy, to the spot. He made five birdies and I only made one,” the man from Guadiaro admitted with a smile. Gonzalo, of course, interjected: “no, no, Álvaro played spectacularly”. Beyond the result and the feelings, Quirós is back and that is always excellent news for Spanish golf. Quirós and his humour. “It’s much more unlikely that Gonzalo and I win this week than that Atlético de Madrid knock Barcelona out,” he said on Tuesday at midday. We’ll see if both things happen…
