Alejandro del Rey has set out in 2024 in search and capture of one of the great unicorns of golf, those legendary beings that some claim to have seen, but of which there is hardly any evidence. We are referring, in this case, to completing a par 4 in a single stroke. That is, to the unique and grandiose mix of a hole in one and the albatross. On the PGA Tour, only one has been seen and in total they can be counted on the fingers of two hands and fingers are left over. One of them, by the way, was achieved by the Spaniard Javier Colomo in Mauritius.
Well, Del Rey has been tightening the noose for three weeks. He started at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, at the Emirates. Hole 2. Second day of competition. He connected a colossal driver of 347 yards and put it on the green, just over two meters from the hole for eagle. Very few that week managed to hunt that green in a single stroke. The first, Rory McIlroy.
Not content with that, Del Rey got a little closer last week at the Ras al Khaimah Championship. Hole 5. Par 4. First day. He hit 345 yards and left his ball six meters from the hole. This time, not like in Dubai where he had to settle for the birdie, he didn’t let the eagle escape. To the pot. Let’s get going.
However, those six meters must have seemed little to him and today on the first day of the Bahrain Championship he has decided to adjust a little more, tighten the unicorn’s noose. Del Rey has released a bombshell of 365 yards on hole 5, par 4, and has left it two meters away. It has also been an eagle. The short par 4s are already starting to tremble when they see the Madrilenian placed on the tee.
Obviously, it is impossible to know that statistic, but there must be very few cases in the world, probably none, of golfers who have hunted a par 4 in one stroke in three consecutive weeks, three different tournaments and, of course, three different courses. These are the things of Alex del Rey. The fabulous kingdom of Alejandro.
That eagle on hole 5 propelled him up the leaderboard, even to catch the lead in the morning round of play at the Royal Golf Club in Bahrain, although later, in the afternoon round, the wind stopped blowing and soon the ‘players’ got down to work, so that the Frenchman Tom Vaillant (-8) ended the day as the sole leader, after handing in a 64, followed by a single stroke by the South African Zander Lombard (-7) and the Swiss Joel Girrbach (-7).
Del Rey’s performance is, therefore, sensational, forged with three birdies in his first nine holes, from 10 to 18. By the way, on the 10th he already tried to hunt the green in one and was on the limit, right at the bunker on the right. After that start, there was a slowdown, with bogeys on holes 1 and 2, but he has known how to react like a champion with a birdie on the 4th, the aforementioned propelling eagle on the 5th and two more birdies to finish on holes 8 and 9, signing in both cases two big hits from outside the green.
Del Rey has known how to take advantage of the best conditions of the week in Bahrain. From tomorrow, there are curves coming, as we advanced in Ten Golf, as a lot of wind is expected. In addition to Alex, it is worth highlighting the great start of Manu Elvira (-3), one more. The Cantabrian is within reach of the top 10. The bulk of the Armada is concentrated on the score of two under par, as at that point have finished Adrián Otaegui, Santi Tarrio, Nacho Elvira, Sebas García and Ángel Hidalgo, while Pablo Larrazábal (-1) managed to beat the course. More problems have been had by Rafa Cabrera Bello (+1), Iván Cantero (+1), Adri Arnaus (+3) and especially Jorge Campillo (+6). In any case, as a lot of wind is expected for the second day, it is currently impossible to establish where the cut line could end.
