– Josele Ballester (-22) has won the PIF Saudi International with a final scorecard of 65 strokes, the second-best score of the day at the Riyadh Golf Club, and with a comfortable lead of three over his closest pursuer, Caleb Surratt (-19). The young Spaniard thus inaugurates his record of victories as a professional in an extraordinary manner, almost as if he were an expert killer, and certainly in the way that colossal or special category players do…
– Yes: there are victories and victories. Winning is always important and usually well-deserved, but there are victories, challenges, or specific successes that also provide more information. It is not the same, for example, to win by a narrow margin and also relying on the mistakes of your direct rivals, as it is to set the pace from the beginning, tightening the noose around the neck of the other contenders and with hardly any significant errors in a final round of a stellar match, and even giving a masterclass in strategy (this must also be credited to Javier Erviti, his caddie).
– Ballester, and this must be noted, did not seem today in Riyadh like a 22-year-old who has only been a professional for six months, despite his brilliant amateur career pointing so high. Rather, he showed the composure, determination, and emotional balance of the great players, accomplished and mature, even when the wind finally and truly picked up over the Saudi course, right in the last nine holes of the tournament, with several swords still held high.
– A fact that speaks for itself about the uniqueness of the triumph and the prowess of the Spanish player. Naturally, when the wind spiced up the day, those most affected were the players who had more holes left to complete. Thus, on a course that has been rather generous throughout the week, we only find three scores of three under among the last 21 players who went out to play today (the last seven matches): Richard Bland (scorecard of 68 strokes on this par 71), Tyrrell Hatton (68) and Jaco Ahlers (68). Let’s remember that Josele signed a calm 65, without needing to sink a bunch of long putts (although some did fall, very timely, like the birdie on hole 13) and even without being able to take advantage of any of the three par 5s on the Saudi course. A complete demonstration of resources in all areas of the game and, of course, also an extraordinary touch on the greens when converting those birdie opportunities (and some recoveries), from medium and short distances, starting with the one he sank on hole 1, from about two and a half metres away.
– Caleb Surratt, the other youngster aspiring to inaugurate his record as a professional, started, on the contrary, with bogeys on holes 1 and 2. It is true that he did not take long to react (he is also more than just a great prospect), but then he struggled to stay in the fight mainly thanks to his skill in recoveries, sinking many par putts from tricky distances. As for Burmester, the third member of the stellar match and undoubtedly the main favourite, he capitulated with bogeys on holes 11 and 13, probably when the wind was blowing the hardest.
– Apart from the result, which has been sufficiently eloquent, it must be emphasised that the level of play of the American and the South African fell short of Ballester‘s, who only, if at all, can be credited with one truly unforced error, a third shot to the green on hole 12, par 5, which landed in the sand, too short (he then saved par with a notable recovery from the bunker, sinking a tricky putt from a metre and a half away, to finally complete a bogey-free round and a final tally of only two bogeys in the 72 holes).
– Here comes Josele Ballester. Make way for him in LIV Golf and in what is not LIV Golf, as long as he takes good note of what some of his fellow players in the Saudi league do (starting with David Puig and continuing with Patrick Reed or Tyrrell Hatton), who are always ready to hunt for world ranking points in other circuits that open the doors to the Majors.
