If you’re going to dream, dream big. Ángel Ayora is clear about that. At 19 years old, this Marbella native, raised in the wonderful factory of La Cañada, aims for the top. Birdies, talent and ambition fall from his pockets. And he has a very well-furnished head. Little bad can come out of such a fabulous combination.
That’s why, when asked about his greatest wish, he doesn’t hesitate: “to be in the next Ryder Cup“. The journalist, cautious and fearful, adds on the other side of the phone: “do you mean the one in Ireland in 2027?”. To which Ángel responds without hesitation to Ten Golf: “no, I mean New York in 2025″ (it will be held a few days before his twenty-first birthday). And he clarifies, but clarifies little: “I wouldn’t say it’s a goal marked in red, red, but yes in orange, almost red. I’m always quite positive and I think there’s no better goal or greater motivation than that,” he explains. There you have it. Dream big.
Logically, and he knows it better than anyone, to get to the Ryder Cup there are other smaller goals that need to be achieved. In this sense, Ayora is clear that his main purpose in 2024 is to achieve full playing rights of the DP World Tour. “I know it’s difficult, but I also have clear that it’s realistic,” he assures. He’s going to try it through two ways: top 20 of the Road to Mallorca of the Challenge Tour in the, at least, 13-14 tournaments he’s going to play this year, or through the points he gets in the opportunities that appear in the DP World Tour itself.
So far, as a professional, he has played two tournaments of the European Circuit, the first was the ISPS Handa Open of Australia and the second the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open. In both he made the cut and showed very good things. “I confirmed that this is my world and my place. I saw myself totally prepared. I realized that I don’t falter too much in any part of the game, although obviously there is always room for improvement,” he points out.
The truth is that Australia and Mauritius were two excellent test benches to measure his golf and draw conclusions. Ángel, along with his coach and right hand, Juan Ochoa, didn’t miss the opportunity to take note. “The feelings with the game have been very good and we also know that there is room for improvement in how to play the field and in the choice of shots, I mean both in strategy and in the preparation of the shots. It’s something that both Juan and I must learn. I have the thorn of throwing some silly shots in the rounds after very good starts from the tee. It’s also about having more commitment with the shot once you’ve made the decision. That’s where there’s more room for improvement,” he points out.
Another check blue of his journey through Australia, Asia and Africa has been the mentality. In both tournaments he was subjected to stressful situations, either with the cut or with rounds that were going very low. The balance is very positive. “I’ve seen myself very well, I knew how to handle emotions in moments of pressure, when I was tight and needed two birdies, for example. I think I handled it well,” he assures.
Similarly, he enjoyed like a child in Australia. “Ten out of ten. What a week. One of the best courses I’ve played in my life, the organization was spectacular and the audience, amazing. There are few feelings more beautiful than arriving at the 18th of the Club de Campo in the Open of Spain, but the Open of Australia was not far behind. There was a lot of public and I love it. I proved it to myself again. I love playing with the public. I’m a player who in scenarios like that I come up, I enjoy it a lot,” he points out.
The next stop for Ángel, if nothing appears before in the form of an invitation, will be the premiere of the Challenge Tour in South Africa. The plan is to start there the year, play as much as he can in the Challenge, DP World Tour and Asian Tour. He wants to play and play. For this he is preparing hard these days. He hardly leaves the golf course and the gym. Precisely, on the course he is making a small tweak in his swing with Ochoa at the controls. “It’s a matter of pressures in the swing. I at the top of the backswing had the weight quite centered and with what I’m doing I’m looking to lean more on the right side, without moving, and then release to the left in the transition to take advantage of more power. We’ve been working for a week and a bit and I’m already noticing the progress. It’s about taking advantage of a bit more energy and, above all, it will be more consistent in the impact,” he adds.
