Wilco Nienaber (-17) is a name you will have heard on numerous occasions. He was tipped to be a golf star. It would be more correct to say he is tipped, as he is only 24 years old, but for the past four years his name has been in the spotlight and the results generated by his great play have not yet arrived.
Sport has its processes and we should not try to understand them all at first. Wilco is a great player and it is normal that sooner or later he will explode. He is on that path and is proving it this week at the Abu Dhabi Challenge where he remains in the lead after the first three rounds. He is not alone at the top, he is accompanied by the Frenchman Alexander Levy and the Englishman Garrick Porteous (-17).
The South African unleashed his game yesterday, playing ten strokes under par and breaking the course record. Not every day is a party and today was a time to maintain what was achieved yesterday. He has done so in a good round in which he has avoided mistakes. He has gone 43 holes in a row without making a bogey. Today, taking advantage of the two par fives on the course and with two other successes along the way, it was enough to stay in the lead.
Nienaber has played more than 20 tournaments a year in the last three seasons of the DP World Tour, with a reduced category and some invitations. Wilco wants to grow up and have a status that allows him to have full rights. A victory tomorrow in Abu Dhabi would bring him much closer to the goal.
However, if anyone has shone today at the Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting & Golf Club it is Quim Vidal (-14). The Spaniard has signed today 63 strokes in what has been the best card of the day. Six birdies, an eagle and no bogey have allowed him to fully enter the fight for the title. He is now eighth in the table. Tomorrow he will start four strokes behind the leaders, but if he is able to emulate what he has done today there is no doubt that he will be very close to victory. A pity the three-putt on hole 18. The only but of an excellent round.
Quim does not yet know what it is to win on the Circuit, and he has given himself the opportunity to fight for it tomorrow. Last year he already showed on the Alps Tour his great ability to win, but if he cannot finally aspire to victory, it is equally important that he fights to the end and adds the largest possible booty of points. He is currently in 91st place on the Road to Mallorca. A great result in Abu Dhabi could put him fully in the fight. He aspires to add the first top 10 of his career on the circuit.
Quim’s year is better than the results say. We must not forget that this is his first season on the Challenge Tour. He has had very brilliant golf days, but he has struggled to link them over several days in a row. In fact, at the Dimension Data Pro Am he flirted with a great result but a final 74 knocked him out of any option. Since then he has missed three cuts in a row, penalised by difficult second rounds and some unfavourable shifts.
Just one stroke behind Quim and on the doorstep of the top 10 is Ángel Ayora (-13). The Andalusian keeps knocking on the door without being able to knock it down. He gives the impression of being just one click away from breaking the door down. It’s not that his current position in the tournament is bad, far from it, but his game gives the impression of aspiring to everything from now on. He is only 19 years old and as soon as those little things align for a whole week there is no doubt that we will see Ángel very high up.
The Spaniard arrived at hole 11 with three birdies and an eagle in the bag, he seemed launched for the top positions. He has not been able to maintain the rhythm and the last eight holes have resulted in seven pars and a bogey. A final putt that laughed at the hole without wanting to fall inside can be a good summary of today’s second round.
Aspiring to victory tomorrow seems complicated, but much less impossible. He is four strokes behind the leaders and flying very low he can give himself options. In Ayora’s case, it is also very important if he manages to sneak into the top 10 of the tournament tomorrow. Next week, as at the start of this season, the Andalusian would play on the circuit with an invitation and if he manages to finish among the top ten he will earn his place by right. If he achieves this, he will not exhaust one of those invitations which by regulation are not unlimited.
Of the rest of the Spaniards, Víctor Pastor (-11)) is also very well placed and will seek his second top 10 of the year tomorrow. Getting back among the top twenty of the year is the goal and the Cordovan is making merits for it. He is currently 22nd in the annual ranking. Borja Virto (-7) and Javi Sainz (-6) will seek to climb the table as many places as possible.
Of the rest of the players who are in the leading positions, the Dane Rasmus Neergard Pettersen repeats tied with Vidal in eighth place. Just one stroke behind the leaders are Connor Purcell, veteran Oliver Bekker and Dane Kristensen (-16). The Englishman John Parry (-15) continues in great form and after his victory in Delhi wants to add his second win of the year. He starts two strokes behind the leaders and will be one of the big names to watch.
