In the final round of a golf tournament, there are many key moments. Rarely is there a single instant that determines everything. Therefore, it ultimately depends on each individual’s subjective criteria to highlight some over others. Nacho Elvira (-8) came close to victory this Sunday at the Genesis Championship in South Korea, the last event of the regular DP World Tour calendar. Don’t be misled by those three strokes difference compared to the winner: Junghwan Lee (-11).
If you believe in predestination, if you like to think that there are invisible forces pulling the strings, you’ll be convinced that the definitive moment was what happened on the 10th hole for Nacho Elvira and the 14th for Lee. The Spaniard played it immaculately, leaving himself a birdie chance from about two and a half metres and made a perfect putt. Or almost. The ball was about to drop in on the right side of the hole when it slid around the edge and came out. A four-knot tie. Had he holed it, Nacho would have taken a two-stroke lead after saving an extraordinary par on the 9th. Tailwind.
Exactly ten seconds later, Lee holed a four-metre birdie putt on the 14th to tie for the lead. A putt that can be made, although this week on the devilish greens of the Woo Jeong Hills Country Club, they were more like €500 notes. They exist, but seeing them, actually seeing them… It was a turning point. If you think everything is written, you’ll stick with this moment. To top it off, it was pouring rain, the only downpour of the day. What more could someone looking for premonitions in their life want?
On the other hand, if you’re someone who clings to the empirical, to the test tube, you’ll focus on Nacho’s tee shot on the 17th. He had just saved an incredible par on the 16th, making an approach and putt from a hill and sinking an eight-metre putt (there, for the predestined, the clear image seen after the 10th started to blur…). An extraterrestrial par. However, immediately after, he missed the tee shot to practically the only place that prevented him from reaching the green in two. He ended up in a small bunker, very close to the slope, forced to play short and hit a discreet third shot from the fairway. Two putts for bogey. Here, one could say that almost everything ended.
Nacho went to the 18th two strokes behind Lee, under a lot of pressure. Only an eagle would force a playoff. Three had been made. His tee shot wasn’t good, ending up in the left rough, with a long shot and little control. It wasn’t a good impact and ended up in the water. A cruel ending for the merits Elvira had shown. He finished with a bogey, tied for second with Laurie Canter, who made one of those three eagles on the 18th, holing a putt from off the green from about 30 metres… Neither the beyond nor the here and now saw that coming.
Nacho Elvira didn’t win because two things came together. On one hand, an inspired player. He holed four putts of over four metres for birdie, plus another three of nearly three. That hadn’t been seen all week. On the other hand, the Spaniard couldn’t bring out his best game in the final part. The long wait of almost ten minutes on the tee of the 16th hole played a bad trick on him. He hit a very poor shot on that last par 3, then missed the tee shot on the 17th, the third shot wasn’t brilliant either, and he faltered again from the tee and on the second shot of the 18th.
In Nacho’s defence, it’s worth noting that much of the responsibility for what happened at the end should be credited to Lee. The Cantabrian had started Sunday in a model manner. He had the tournament under control. He made two birdies on the 3rd and 5th and pulled away from the rest. From everyone except the Korean who, after starting with a bogey, signed five consecutive birdies (eight in total) and finished with a 64-stroke card, one off the course record. The best round of the week at the most important moment.
Elvira misses out on his third victory on the DP World Tour, but there aren’t many criticisms to make about his Sunday. It was the fifth time he started as the leader in the final round and he has always finished first or second. Today’s result is really more due to Lee, who turned the screws to exhaustion, coming from behind with less pressure than someone carrying the lead on their shoulders. The consolation for the man from Santander is not insignificant: qualifying for the Abu Dhabi playoff and setting his presence in the Dubai Final on the right track. Surely, he would have signed for that on Thursday.
It is Junghwan Lee’s first victory on the DP World Tour, a 34-year-old Korean playing his sixth tournament on the circuit. In Korea, he had won twice, although you have to go back to 2017 and 2018. In the last two years, he had finished second six times. He breaks through with the most important win of his career, earning him the European card. They call him ‘ironman‘ for his excellent iron play. On the 18th, he hit a sublime third shot to leave it a metre from the flag and capped off the best day of his life with a birdie. He has never played a Major.
In fourth position were Katsuragawa, Pavan, and Sullivan, while it’s also worth highlighting the seventh position of Ángel Ayora, as well as the top 15 finishes of Jorge Campillo and Rafa Cabrera Bello.
