David Puig (-6) set out this Saturday determined to unleash one of his strikes on the third day of the International Series of Oman. He knew he needed a low round to get into the top group and set to work.
His first nine holes at the Al Mouj Golf Club, a beautiful links-style course, were textbook. One drive after another and one birdie opportunity after another. He took the stickers off hole 1 to subtract the first stroke, but the putt did not join the party. It stayed cold and held back the attack that Puig had designed in his head. This time, one of the best weapons of the young golfer from La Garriga, did not accompany.
So much so that David had to resort to other procedures to continue approaching the head. On hole 7, par 5, he got the eagle by holing from outside. Yes, the putt was not hot, but his partial was already three under par. He was already starting to appear in the rearview mirror.
The other key moment was on hole 14, a short par 4. If you hit a good drive you can leave it very close to the green. At that moment, Puig was four under par on the day, after signing a bogey on 9 and two birdies on 11 and 12, in the latter putting for eagle. The Spaniard’s drive escaped to the right, bad place. The ball was not visible, they were looking for it and it did not appear in the stipulated three minutes. Back to the tee… A few seconds later, his parents, who have travelled to Oman to see him, found the ball. Nothing could be done now. The triple bogey fell. A matter of a few seconds. Bad luck. Although the ball was not well placed, logically, the 4 or 5 were very feasible.
Even so, Puig recovered, saved a good par on hole 15 and finished the round with a great birdie on 18, a tricky par 4 that today had the flag well hidden and stuck to the water on the right. Round of 70 strokes that tastes little, but again shows that, beyond the accident of 14, Puig’s game is very well oiled.
If we apply the milkmaid’s tale to Puig’s tournament, without intending to make blood, it turns out that if we convert yesterday’s and today’s triple bogeys into simple bogeys, he would now be at -10, two strokes from the lead, fully involved in the fight for victory. It is not about making blood, but quite the contrary, to highlight how well David is playing to even have a remote chance of victory on Sunday with two triple bogeys on his back.
Obviously, victory is very complicated, although the Catalan golfer does not throw in the towel, far from it. He knows he has a very low round in his bag and does not rule out that it will come out tomorrow. He is six strokes from the lead shared by Louis Oosthuizen (-12) and Carlos Ortiz (-12), and five from Thai Prom Meesawat, author of the lowest round of the day (65 strokes), Filipino Justin Quiban, Chinese amateur Sampson Zheng, American Peter Uihlein and Australian Travis Smyth.
Be that as it may, and much beyond victory, there is a good booty of world ranking points at stake by finishing as high as possible.
Who has also been very weighed down by the putter in this third round has been Carlos Pigem (-1), the other Spaniard who made the cut and who has signed a card of 74 strokes with 32 putts. His start of the round has been spectacular, with a partial of three less in seven holes, but from there, with eagle included in the 7, he has not been able to finish any of the remaining greens with a single putt. He occupies the 51st position.
