Alejandro del Rey (-8) handed in a card of 70 strokes this Friday in the second round of the Bahrain Championship and has placed himself in fourth position alone, just one stroke from the lead shared by Dylan Frittelli (-9), Jesper Svensson (-9) and Joel Girbach (-9). The Madrid-born player scored four more strokes than yesterday and, however, the feeling of satisfaction is the same or even greater than on Thursday. Does this make sense? Absolutely.
Del Rey was a metre and a half away from framing today’s round in gold. It was prevented by that metre and a half putt for par that escaped him on hole 18, the last of the day, and that prevented him from signing a round without bogeys. Something like this, on a day like today, and for a player of his characteristics, would have been almost a feat. And we’re not the ones saying it. “If I had made that putt, knowing myself, I would say that today’s round would have had more merit. With that bogey we’re going to call it a draw,” he assures Ten Golf.
The fact is that the playing conditions, as we announced last Tuesday, have become very complicated at the Royal Golf Club in Bahrain. The expected wind appeared, blew in abundance and forced the golfers to balance to finish under par. Only 32 players have beaten the course, just under a quarter. Take as an example what happened to Sebas García on holes 3 and 13, two par 5s: he hit drive first, drive second and still has 40 and 90 metres to reach the green. Specifically, his drive on 13 was about 213 metres. His average so far this season is just over 260 metres. Do the maths.
The most outstanding thing about Del Rey’s round is that he has hardly suffered. And it’s not a figure of speech. The longest par putts he has had to hole have been a metre and a half on 15 and 18, both with different luck. You have to play very good golf not to get into trouble on such a windy day. Alex has played in control all day, pressing when he could and using his head. It was a test of maturity passed with distinction, as well as a demonstration that, at least in the first two days, his long game has been very well oiled.
Del Rey enters the weekend in Bahrain fighting for victory. The same can be said of Sebastián García (-5). From Madrid-born to Madrid-born. His four-stroke distance is perfectly recoverable in the remaining 36 holes. In addition, Santi Tarrio (-1) and Pablo Larrazábal (PAR) have made the cut.
The reality is that Bahrain has been somewhat cruel to the Spaniards today. Up to four of ours, the Elvira brothers, Iván Cantero and Rafa Cabrera Bello have missed the cut by a single stroke. To be fair, except for Nacho, all have finished with a birdie on their last hole, so they haven’t had it so close at hand. The older of the Elviras was more cruel, as he made three putts on his last hole to miss out. Without options were Adri Arnaus, Adrián Otaegui, Ángel Hidalgo and Jorge Campillo. It’s the first cut the Extremaduran has missed since the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. A streak of eight in a row is broken.
Beyond the Spaniards, it is worth highlighting the good health of the alliance between the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour, at least in terms of results. If in the United States it was Matthieu Pavon who won a few days ago, this week in Bahrain we have Frittelli, tied for the lead, and Harrison Endycott, two strokes from the lead. Both have entered the tournament in the category reserved for PGA Tour players who finished last year between 126th and 200th in the FedEx Cup.
