Alejandro del Rey (-10) and Iván Cantero (-9) have two main objectives this Sunday in the final round of the Genesis Championship in South Korea. The first is to get into the play-off in Abu Dhabi and the second is to secure full playing rights on the DP World Tour. Both are on track.
Del Rey, tied for sixth with 18 holes to go, would be projected to move to 55th place in the Race to Dubai (the top 70 qualify for Abu Dhabi), and Cantero, tied for ninth, would rise to 106th place (the top 114 retain their status). As you can see, the Madrid native and the Asturian are in a good position, but they still need to finish the job in the final round, as the leaderboard is very tight, with 27 players between scores of -10 and -5. Let’s remember that Cantero, for example, needs to be in the top 25 to avoid a nervous wait. He currently has a three-shot cushion for that position. A good buffer, but not definitive.
To avoid anxiety, there’s nothing better than looking upwards. Let’s do the maths by elevation. Yes, it’s true they have the two main objectives mentioned earlier, but at the same time, they have created an opportunity to win their first tournament on the DP World Tour. We must not lose sight of this possibility. Del Rey is two shots behind leaders Tom Kim and Byeong Hun An, and Cantero is three behind. The task is obviously difficult, but not impossible. If they aim to win, it might be easier to achieve the other goal.
As we say, Del Rey and Cantero could become first-time champions on the DP World Tour, a truly extraordinary achievement. History says so. In over 50 years of the European Tour, only 34 Spaniards have managed to win at least once on this Tour. The last to debut was, precisely, the Malaga native Ángel Hidalgo at the Acciona Open de España. Thus, Del Rey and Cantero are aiming to be the 35th Spaniard to win on the DP World Tour.
Another sensational achievement that Spanish golf could accomplish this Sunday is to add a second first-time champion in the same season. It’s been 17 years since two or more Spaniards have opened their victory tally in the European Tour in the same year. Cantero or Del Rey would join Hidalgo. The last time something like this happened was in 2007, when expectations soared with four first-time champions: Álvaro Quirós, Pablo Martín, Carl Suneson, and José Manuel Lara.
Only in seven seasons have we had more than one Spanish first-time champion:
– 1972: Antonio Garrido and José María Cañizares.
– 1973: Francisco Abreu, Germán Garrido, and Jaime Benito.
– 1976: Seve Ballesteros and Salvado Balbuena.
– 1977: Ángel Gallardo and Manuel Ramos.
– 1992: Miguel Ángel Jiménez and Miguel Ángel Martín.
– 1999: Sergio García and Pedro Linhart.
– 2007: José Manuel Lara, Carl Suneson, Pablo Martín, and Álvaro Quirós.
