Ángel Ayora (-9) made the most of a fabulous Sunday at the BMW PGA Australian Championship. The golfer from Marbella, who developed his skills at La Cañada, delivered a card of 64 strokes in the third and final round of the tournament, climbing more than 40 positions to break into the top 10. A magnificent way to kick off the season on the DP World Tour.
Ayora completed an impressive hat trick at the Royal Queensland Golf Club in Brisbane. On one hand, his card of 64 strokes is the lowest of his career on the European Circuit. It improves on the 65 he presented last year at the Australian Open, also on the final day. In the Challenge Tour, he had three better rounds: a 62 in the initial round of the Challenge Tour Final this year, as they say, just the other day, a 63 at the Euram Bank, and a 64 in Finland. Additionally, he also signed a 63 in the second round of the first stage of the School Final last year.
Ángel’s second goal relates to the result. The shared sixth position also represents his best-ever classification on the DP World Tour. Until now, the benchmark was set at 21st place, achieved at the aforementioned Australian Open and the KLM Open, both this year. The qualitative leap he has made this week is considerable.
And the hat trick is completed by being the first non-Australian-born player in the classification. It’s well known that whenever the European Tour moves to Australia and South Africa, the local player usually dominates, and it’s not easy to make a mark in the top positions. This time Ayora has carried the banner of Old Continent golf.
Beyond his card today, his final classification, or that fun detail of being the first non-Australian, what is truly relevant about Ayora this week is the patience and ability he has shown to overcome a bad moment. It’s important to remember that he started the tournament with a +4 in the first 14 holes. Between the rain and some mistakes, not only did the tournament become an uphill battle, but the cut became very complicated. However, from that point, his score was -13 in the next 40 holes, the best of the tournament since then.
The Andalusian player signed his best putting day this Sunday and had some key moments, such as the par approach from outside that he holed on the 13th hole to maintain the good pace of the round, a great shot with the pitching wedge from the native area on the 3rd to just over a metre from the hole for birdie, another sensational wedge at 43 metres on the 15th and over the bunker, leaving it a metre and a half for birdie, and two excellent bunker shots on the 7th and 12th to sign birdies. Patience, grit, and resources.
Iván Cantero (-5) was on his way to joining Ayora in the top 10 of the tournament. The Asturian was having a hard-fought round but well-controlled until the 16th hole. His score was two under, just one stroke away from the top ten. However, the round went from day to night on the 16th with a triple bogey. His tee shot ended up in the fairway bunker, from there he hit the embankment, and then the hole became complicated around the green. A shame. An overly cruel end to a great week for the player from Llanes. He finished in the top 25 but deserved a bit more. The best part is that beyond that mishap on the 16th, he played great golf, continuing what he showed in Korea.
It wasn’t a great Sunday for the other three Spaniards who made the cut. Alfredo García Heredia (-3) beat the course with a round of 70 strokes, but it barely served to gain six positions and finish in 46th place, while Sebas García (-1) and Rafa Cabrera Bello (+2) lost a lot of ground with rounds of 72 and 75 strokes.
