Ángel Ayora has pulled off a textbook veni, vidi, vici. Just like Julius Caesar. He arrived in Rome, saw what was there and conquered. The 19-year-old golfer from Manilva has secured an invitation to the Italian Open, a DP World Tour tournament that will take place from 27 to 30 June at the Adriatic Golf Club Cervia, in Ravenna. He achieved this in the demanding pre-tournament that took place today, where three spots were distributed among nearly 90 players. A big hit.
It was at the Golf Nazionale, in Viterbo, a small region north of Rome. The pre-tournament was played over 18 holes and Ayora (-3) handed in a scorecard of 68 strokes to finish in second place, one stroke behind the winner, the also young Englishman Joshua Berry (-4), and tied with two other golfers: Flavio Michetti and Enrico Di Nitto. The job was not yet finished. He had to go to a playoff. Three players for two spots.
Ayora resolved it on the first playoff hole. With a par. Literally and figuratively. He hit the green in two and with two putts secured the spot alongside Michetti, leaving Di Nitto out. Ángel has already played four European Tour tournaments, making the cut in the two this season in Australia and Mauritius and finishing among the top 35.
In principle, this Italian Open will be his fifth tournament in the first division, although it is not yet ruled out that it will be the sixth. He has requested an invitation to the KLM Open, which is played just the week before Italy. What is certain (he has the invitation confirmed) is that he will play the BMW International in Germany, the week after Italy, so at least by early July, he will have already played six tournaments on the European circuit. The invitation from the Netherlands would be great news, as it would allow him to play three consecutive weeks on the DP World Tour.
In the Italian Open pre-tournament held today there were other Spanish players: Carlos Pigem (PAR) was three strokes short of the target, Álvaro Velasco (+2) five and further back were Luis Vega and Pep Anglés. Beyond our own, among the participants the name of Lorenzo Gagli, who was two strokes short, stands out.
