Spanish golf experienced a great week in Ras Al Khaimah, showcasing new talent with several of its young players (or not so veteran) taking centre stage, starting with the tournament winner, Alejandro del Rey. And today, after the first round of the Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship, it could be said that the old guard is reclaiming its place: Rafa Cabrera Bello (-5) delivered one of the best results of the morning session and Pablo Larrazábal (-6) was the best player on the course, literally, in a much tougher and trickier afternoon session due to the wind. The Barcelona native, true to his style of thriving when conditions are tough and birdies are not given away, tore up the Royal Golf Club course with seven birdies in his last fourteen holes.
Pablo’s performance was not, of course, like that of the leader, Brandon Robinson Thompson (-11), but the Englishman’s morning 61, already a true feat, was much more than a pipe dream in the afternoon session, an impossibility, a fantasy, a delirium. Nonetheless, it served the Spaniard, firstly, to place himself right in the hot zone (he is third, five strokes behind the soaring leader); and secondly, though no less importantly, to reaffirm his commitment to remain competitive in his eighteenth consecutive season on the European circuit.
The difference between the morning and afternoon sessions deserves a separate comment, which will also help to better understand what Larrazábal achieved in Bahrain. The course, as was reasonable to expect, was prepared according to a weather forecast that assured strong winds throughout the day. Some tees were moved forward, the greens were left less vertiginous… But then the wind didn’t really pick up until midday. Thus, the average in the morning session was 70.30 strokes and in the afternoon, pay attention, it went up to 73.07. Nearly three more strokes on average is certainly a huge difference and a severe handicap for all players on that side of the draw. But fortunately, although it may not always seem so, especially for those who have to endure this kind of adversity, this is part of the essence of golf, a sport so absolutely tied to the whims of Nature.
Larrazábal struggled a bit more on the first holes of his round, holes 1, 2, and 3, a stretch where the wind direction lengthened and complicated the course, but then he accepted the challenge and even enjoyed it. After making a bogey on the 4th, he practically didn’t stop putting for birdie on the remaining fourteen holes, one after another, with special mention for the one on the 15th hole (great drive and splendid second shot from almost 180 metres), one of the most challenging on the course, if not the most difficult. But we also remember that final flourish on the 18th, very much in his style: he ‘pummeled’ the ball mercilessly from the tee and then, with his feet higher than the ball and from the desert sand, hit a three-quarter 9-iron, with a lot of hand action, to leave himself a final birdie chance, taking advantage of the green’s contour, which gathered to the left of the flag, and perhaps with a bit of luck, why not say it.
David Puig (-3) was another of the scarce nine players who managed to score below seventy in the afternoon session. The Catalan was doing his thing, regardless of the wind, with a five-under-par score for the first thirteen holes. Truly, there is almost no round where this young player doesn’t end up shouting to the world ‘here I am’. The one from La Garriga also went through a lean spell, with a frustrating series of three consecutive bogeys (holes 14, 15, and 16), but he still had time, composure, and ability to rally and finish with a birdie on the 18th. And here the young man remains: he has yet to play a single round over par in regular DP World Tour tournaments. Granted, he hasn’t played many, but he already has 21 rounds and 19 have been under par (only two at par).
Joel Moscatel (PAR) came through the challenge unscathed. It wasn’t easy to sign for par this afternoon. Nacho Elvira (+1) and Iván Cantero (+1) weren’t far from par, and with one more stroke than them, Ángel Hidalgo (+2) and Ángel Ayora (+2) finished the afternoon session. In the rear carriages of the leaderboard is Alejandro Del Rey (+4), last week’s winner, who suffered real calamities on the greens. He couldn’t find a way to hole out and a good handful of putts (no fewer than six) ended with the ball kissing the edge of the hole… Tomorrow he will have to sweat it out to make the cut, but not long ago this young man showed us what he is capable of.
