Alejandro del Rey (-22) has won the Ras Al Khaimah Championship with a final score of 66 at the Al Hamra Golf Club, finishing four strokes ahead of his closest competitor, Marcus Armitage (-18). The Englishman did not give in, but even with a notable score of 68, he could barely contain the torrent of resources and skills of the Spanish player.
Del Rey thus inaugurates his record in the DP World Tour, which in itself already marks a line on the ground that separates him from the majority. And this will not be the last mark he leaves, as his profile is that of a player destined to soar high. Very high.
It’s curious. Alejandro was one of those players who, even before turning professional, already carried the weight of expectation. Perhaps it was due to his victory in the Eisenhower Trophy in 2018 (amateur world championship). Or because of his evident and dazzling abilities, a phenomenal hitter who also always showed great skill in the short game.
He won on the Alps Tour (September 2020) a few weeks after turning professional, somehow confirming the expectations. And it didn’t take him long to win on the Challenge Tour (July 2022) either. Then, in the elite, it took a little longer, but the wait wasn’t too long. He is a player who stands out from the norm, but paradoxically his progression is orderly and upward, with few peaks. Be that as it may, the prevailing feeling after his winning debut in the Emirates is that today, at last, Del Rey has reclaimed his natural place in the world (of golf), among the levitators, the winners, those destined to excel in their field. Then, be careful, one must also know how to carry such a burden with ease.
Beyond his brilliant final result at the crucial moment, which can end in many ways, Del Rey has confirmed today that he does not feel like an intruder in the star match on Sunday in a DP World Tour tournament. All professionals are ‘designed’ and trained to express such conviction: I am a guy for the big days. Very few, if any, would admit otherwise. Then, fortunately or unfortunately, not all are able to confirm it. Or they achieve it much later, after a long period, and not in their 70th tournament in the top division, as Del Rey has done today. He didn’t win at the first attempt either. In fact, it wasn’t the first time he was in the final groups on Sunday. But he learns quickly.
He started with birdies on holes 1 and 2, making it clear to Armitage what kind of steep path the day would take. There are birdies and birdies, and his, these at the start, were powerful, leaving the ball very close to the flag in both cases. If on Saturday he had only hit three fairways, on Sunday he would barely hit two: he wasn’t hitting them even with an iron from the tee… But it didn’t matter to him: today his talent could handle everything and everyone. (Let’s open a parenthesis here: this week, in Ras Al Khaimah, on a course like Al Hamra, indeed it didn’t matter, but he knows well that if he truly aspires to a permanent place in the world’s top 50, for example, or if he aspires to play all the Majors and compete until the end in some of them, he will have to straighten that driver more regularly. There’s no other way).
It would be bad if Del Rey indulged in too much praise in the coming hours, days, or weeks, which could take him out of the game. The compliments (all those in this report, for example) must be digested with utmost caution. And put into perspective. It would be bad, but here’s one more to transcribe: the Madrid native sealed the tournament with a trio of birdies on holes 11, 12, and 13 that could well have been signed by Severiano Ballesteros. On the 11th, a par 3, he holed a delicate chip for birdie; on the 12th, after missing the fairway by a lot, he managed to get the ball to the centre of the green from the desert sand and 180 metres from the flag (the ball, it’s true, was much better placed than his drive had deserved) and ended up sinking a long putt of about fifteen metres; and he finished on the 13th with a great second shot from the rough and holing a putt of about three metres. This series could be added to the par he saved on the 14th, a par 5, after getting into numerous and varied troubles, showcasing those steady hands he has to execute a wonderful little chip, even if it wasn’t the most complicated in the world.
No one is like Seve. Del Rey isn’t either. But on certain occasions, some seem like it. Del Rey could be one of them.
