The Frenchman Oihan Guillamoundeguy, the South African Deon Germishuys and the Scot Daniel Young, all with -13, are the leaders of the Big Green Egg German Challenge with 18 holes left. That’s what the leaderboard says at the end of the third day, although a couple of hours earlier the tournament looked quite different, with the Spaniard Quim Vidal (-7) at the very top with -11…
This is the chronicle of an exuberant start to the Catalan golfer’s moving day and a damn 4 iron. Vidal got off to a start as Saturdays dictate, going out in the last matches. He started with a birdie on the 1st, repeated on the 2nd and achieved a wonderful hat trick on the 3rd. The classic pim, pam, pum. Not content with that, he signed another birdie on the 5th. Four birdies in five holes and sole leadership with -11. A full-fledged here I am.
The locomotive was in motion and with all the coal in the engine room. Not even a bogey on the 6th stopped his push. He quickly solved it with a birdie on the 7th and continued to look down on everyone from above. Another day playing solid, minimizing mistakes. He was really going for it, hitting good shots and with the putter at full performance.
However, this imperial march was truncated on hole 11. What a sport this is. On the same hole where yesterday he was about to make a hole in one with a 7 iron, it turns out that today it has ended with a bad 4 iron from the tee, lost ball, three putts and triple bogey. Devastating. The change of scenery was radical. Quim still recovered and pulled out a great birdie on the 13th, but finished with two very painful bogeys, almost more than the triple on the 11th, on the 14th and 17th, the same holes where he made bogey on the first day.
Not only has Quim’s imperial march in Germany been truncated, but also the streak of consecutive rounds under par. He has left the record at ten straight rounds. On the eleventh he made 72 strokes, par for the course, for a total of -7. The anger and frustration after a day that starts as it started and ends as it ended is logical, but it is convenient and necessary to make a positive reading. The first is that Vidal already knows what it means to lead a Challenge Tour tournament halfway through the third round. The second is that, with a triple bogey, he has saved par with the course. The third is that he still has a remote chance of victory.
Yes, it’s true, six strokes against three players seems like a lot, but with a start like today’s, he’ll get within range and then anything can happen. Every day there are rounds at the Wittelsbacher Golf Club in Germany of 64 and 65 strokes, a scorecard that would put Vidal back in the betting.
That same remote chance of victory is held by David Borda (-7). The Navarrese’s round has been much quieter. He made five birdies and three bogeys, round of 70 strokes. He is tenth in the leaderboard. If he is the one who makes 64 or 65 strokes this Sunday, watch out for Borda. Without chances of victory are already Emilio Cuartero (-2), Víctor Pastor (-2) and Borja Virto (PAR).
