A Tuesday practice at the Irish Open is not just any Tuesday practice. Two days ago at Royal County Down there were a lot of people. Around here, Northern Ireland, they know a lot about golf and as soon as the day dawned, very windy and with showers here and there, they put on their raincoat, just enough warmth and to the field to see the professionals suffer. To enjoy.
The large crowd that gathered on the Newcastle course had the fortune, for example, to check how fine Iván Cantero‘s (-1) game is, how well the Asturian plays when the wind starts to blow. His ball dominates the wind and he feels comfortable in these conditions. At least, he feels more comfortable than others. The golfer from Llanes offered a clinic and signed an extraordinary one under par in nine holes. A brutal result.
That was not a mirage, nor a one-day wonder, but the demonstration that he has recovered his best golf in time. He has shown this again today with his round of one under par in the morning, when the wind blew the most at Royal County Down. He made 70 strokes with six birdies and five bogeys. His performance has been exceptional in the last seven holes of the round, with a partial of four under par. Sensational. He has perfectly squeezed the par 5s and has made a couple of good putts, but they have not been tubes either.
We say that he has recovered his best version in time, since before playing the weekend in Switzerland, Cantero had missed eight cuts in a row. A bad summer. It is true that between February and May he had done his homework very well and his situation was still more or less comfortable in the Race to Dubai, but it was necessary to stop the bleeding and give the year a push to avoid problems. He now ranks 94th. The first 114 save the card. You have to tighten up.
Only seven players have delivered a better result than Iván in the morning. The best has been Will Enefer (-3), another one who came to Ireland in a horrible streak, with one cut surpassed in his last ten tournaments. Meanwhile, with two under par are, among others, Ewen Ferguson, Soren Kjeldsen, winner on this course nine years ago, Daniel Brown, the Cinderella of the past Open Championship, or Erik Van Rooyen.
As for the Spaniards, Jorge Campillo (+1) has fought a bloody battle against Royal County Down. He made seven birdies, more than any other player on this first day, but he made two double bogeys, both with bad shots from the tee, and four bogeys. In addition, Pablo Larrazábal (+4), Manu Elvira (+5) and Alfredo García Heredia (+7) have complicated their lives in the tournament, although all of them still have room for manoeuvre with a good day in the second round.
