It’s been a while since Jorge Campillo has been estranged from The Belfry. They argued, got angry and the relationship cooled down. After a sensational debut in 2020, when he was just three strokes away from the playoff during the pandemic golf, at the ISPS Handa UK Championship, he hasn’t made a cut and hasn’t shot below 70. Until this Thursday at the start of Nick Faldo’s British Masters. The Extremaduran is flirting again with the Brabazon course of the legendary English circuit.
Campillo (-4) has handed in a very good card of 68 strokes on the first day, taking advantage of the best conditions that the afternoon golfers have had, without wind, with sun and a perfect temperature. He has placed himself in third position, just one stroke from the lead held, surprise!, another Frenchman, Jeong Weon Ko (-5) and the veteran Paul Waring (-5). Let’s not forget that we come from two consecutive French victories on the DP World Tour. Thriston Lawrence (-4) ties in second place with the Spaniard.
Campillo has had an orderly round, hitting better with the irons than from the tee, especially in the second nine holes today. The quality leap in his round has come at hole 15, par 5. He has achieved a sensational eagle, sinking a putt of almost ten meters that has catapulted him in the classification. He has only made one bogey all day and the truth is that he has not gotten into big trouble. He had a very good chance to tie for the lead at 17, but his birdie putt of about three meters slipped away.
Jorge played for the first time at The Belfry in 2020 and had the aforementioned good performance. Since then, he has missed the cut in 2021, 2022 and 2023. His best round had been 70 strokes and he always had a bad day. Today he has started flirting again with the course, but this Friday he has to complete the conquest to definitively get rid of the thorn. By the way, it’s not just a problem with The Belfry. If we look at the British Masters, he hasn’t played the weekend since 2017. This tournament has not always been held on this week’s course.
The Brabazon course has once again shown that it can defend itself alone. Although the conditions have been very good, the best round has been 67 strokes, the top 10 is at -3 and the cut has so far been set at PAR. Narrow fairways and a generous rough are enough weapons to complicate anyone’s life.
Beyond Campillo, only Ángel Hidalgo (-1), who played in the morning with worse conditions, has managed to beat the course among the Armada. The vital signs of Spanish golf on the DP World Tour continue to be low. Of the thirteen Spaniards who are playing the British Masters this week, only three are within the provisional cut. The third is Sebas García Rodríguez (PAR). From there, everyone will have to row: Rafa Cabrera Bello (+1), Adrián Otaegui (+2), Gonzalo Fernández Castaño (+2), Alex del Rey (+3), Pablo Larrazábal (+3), Adri Arnaus (+3), Alfredo García Heredia (+4), Iván Cantero (+5), Manu Elvira (+5) and Santi Tarrio (+8).
Aside from the Spaniards, it’s worth noting the start of Tyrrell Hatton (-3) and the tumbles of Luke Donald (+6) and the 16-year-old Kris Kim (+6). By the way, this week, as you know, the qualification for the 2025 Ryder Cup begins, well, the two who have played with Donald have been Ewen Ferguson (+2) and Vincent Norrman (PAR).
