Joel Moscatel (-14) has been the winner of the twenty-fifth edition of the Challenge of Spain that was played at the Real Club Sevilla Golf and was decided after a tight dispute between three players. Finally, withstanding the pressure, Moscatel took the prize on the last hole with a birdie to sign his first victory on the Challenge Tour.
The final day was presented as a tight one, as it has happened every day of the tournament, with a very demanding course that barely forgave mistakes and rewarded good shots. A good testament to this can be given by the outstanding leader of the tournament, Tapio Pulkkanen (-13), who arrived at hole 9 (par 5) with two strokes ahead and saw how the lead vanished with a harsh double bogey.
This could also be explained by Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (-13), the outstanding Number One of the Road to Mallorca. On hole 13 he achieved a sidereal eagle, with a second shot that left him less than two metres from the flag and he could be the leader of the tournament with five holes to go. However, in the end, he would end up giving in with a bogey on the last hole after sending his shot to the right bunker. It wasn’t even a very bad or deviated shot, but it was enough to be forced to play short and not be able to make an approach and putt from about 80 metres. This opened the door for Moscatel, who has played impeccable golf for the four days of the tournament.
Moscatel went out to play the final day in the leaders’ match, nervous as always because according to the Barcelona native, “that’s a good sign“. The tension did not prevent him from making a birdie on the first hole. Avoiding mistakes and recovering well, he saved the next seven holes with pars until he reached the 9th, where he made a birdie to stay in the fight, at the same time that Pulkkanen made a double bogey. Joel, well escorted by Alberto Calvo, his friend and usual caddie of the Italian Andrea Pavan on the DP World Tour, was calming those nerves under the watchful eye of his coach, Larry (Alejandro Larrazábal) who followed him at a prudent distance observing each shot of the pupil with whom he has been working for five years.
Moscatel’s second nine holes have been worthy of a champion. On the 11th, he put it in from the back bunker of the green for a birdie. It was a sublime shot. The flag was short, the green received him downhill and he did it perfectly. Better impossible. If he hadn’t put it in, it would have been given. On the 13th, he took the green with the second shot and two putts. At that moment, the classification was very tight and everything pointed to a tie.
On the 16th, Joel hits a long drive to the left and from the rough he puts it on the green to make another birdie with two putts. He was five under on the day without really making any putt. There he tied for the lead with Neergaard-Petersen, but a bogey on the 17th put him one behind. He was unlucky on the par 3. He hit a great shot, in line with the flag, but he touched it a bit heavy and not only ended up in the bunker, but it got stuck.
The victory was uphill, but the final dance of two strokes on the 18th, with the bogey of the Nordic and the stratospheric birdie of Moscatel turned the tables. Joel hit a long drive to the rough on the right and the ball was perfect. From there, a great shot to just over a metre from the flag and in to make a birdie and win the tournament. Like a champion.
With this victory, Moscatel climbs to the third position in the Challenge Tour Ranking and, if he maintains this level until the end of the season, he will move to the DP World Tour. He needs to finish among the top 20 in the Road to Mallorca.
“I’m happy. I’ve played really well. The key has been to keep my nerves and concentration, because at the beginning the putts weren’t coming, I knew how to use it for good and I’m happy with the patience we’ve had. I was nervous but calm at the same time, there was some tense tee off, but I’m very happy with the work we’ve done. Winning here is wonderful, I knew I liked this course and that it could go well for me, but you still have to do it. The people who followed us helped me a lot, they transmitted a lot of energy to me. On the 18th putt I didn’t know what Rasmus had done, I just putted trying to make a birdie and see what happened, to give myself a chance. I was so nervous that I couldn’t even think. There’s still a lot of season left, but it’s wonderful, fourth in Abu Dhabi and victory in Seville, and keep building.”
Joel Moscatel’s victory is the fifth Spanish victory in the 25 years of Challenge of Spain, which counts in its winners list with Santiago Tarrio (2021), Eduardo de la Riva (2012), Álvaro Velasco (2010) and Carlos Suneson (1999).
