– Ángel Ayora (-6) and Gregorio De Leo (-6) were the best of the afternoon session in the first round of the Qatar Masters, both carding 66 strokes at the Doha Golf Club, although the day couldn’t be completed due to lack of light. The Spaniard and the Italian are just one stroke behind the tournament leaders, who played in the morning, two tough competitors and from now on, if they weren’t already, top favourites for the final victory: Patrick Reed (-7) and Daniel Hillier (-7).
– Same result for Ayora and De Leo, but very different expressions when signing the scorecard… While the young Andalusian finished with a dizzying four-under-par for his last three holes, with birdies on the 16th and 17th and an eagle on the 18th, the Italian completed the round on the 9th hole, a par 5, with a bogey. In any case, De Leo’s frustration shouldn’t last long, as the afternoon session was noticeably more challenging.
– Ayora holed some good birdie putts today. On other occasions, it must be said, those absolutely necessary ‘bonuses’ are missed in his golf rounds to really be in the fight. The best examples are the birdie putts he holed on the 12th hole, from about eight metres, and on the 17th, from about six. Earlier, on the 16th, the famous short par 4 of the Qatari course, his ball landed on the green with a 3-wood from the tee, and then he secured the birdie after a magnificent chip from the depths of the rough. To finish, and as a perfect end to an excellent round of golf, he holed out from the sand on the 18th hole to seal an eagle. Another very nice bonus…
– Earlier, it’s true, he started the round with a somewhat silly bogey on the 2nd hole, after reaching the green in regulation and missing a short return putt, but a good attitude was also a key weapon today. Precisely in that broad area of attitude is where Juan Carlos Ferrero has started to work more (he’s not in Qatar this week, although he was in Bahrain last week) and the fact is that, after that early mistake, he strung together three birdies to really get going. In the same way, he managed to recover after the bogeys on the 13th and 15th holes with the exuberant finish to the round already described.
– Adri Arnaus (-2) was also in a good position to sign a notable first card, although the Catalan couldn’t finish his round due to lack of light. The same goes for Alex del Rey (+2), who hadn’t made a single birdie in the 16 holes he had time to play, but tomorrow, bright and early, he can make up for it by finishing on those 17th and 18th holes that remain, where many birdie opportunities are usually seen.
