Four out of four. Full house. This is how the Spanish Armada fares in this always very attractive mini Australian swing that kicks off the DP World Tour season. The four Spaniards who started the ISPS Handa Australian Open have secured the cut this Friday. Two more days of golf. A success that was repeated last week at the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship. These should not be considered minor objectives when less than three weeks ago we saw players lose their cards or miss out on the Dubai Final by a handful of points. As the wise mantra says: add, add and add… and add again.
Alfredo García Heredia (-5), Rafa Cabrera Bello (-3), Joel Moscatel (-3) and Ángel Ayora (-2) have earned a place for the weekend. Each in their own way. They are far from the lead, that’s true, but there are still 36 holes ahead with very little to lose. The leader, whom we will talk about a little later, is Min Woo Lee (-12).
Alfredo is pulling from the patience tank this week, a virtue almost inherent to a born fisherman like the Asturian. Luckily, the reserves are full, as fishing this week in Sydney has become difficult. They require you to wear a life jacket and a sign reminds you of the number of deaths that have occurred on those rocks. Yes, fishing is great, but not worth risking your life.
In the absence of fishing, García Heredia has poured that integrity into the golf course and is reaping the rewards. “The swing is not bad,” assures his cousin and coach Jorge Parada, which in family language translates to it being really good. Both yesterday and today he has left many birdie options, playing very orderly, without too many complications from fairway to green. However, the putter is not fine. When this happens, there is no choice but to lower the revolutions a bit more and trust that no evil lasts a hundred years.
It has worked. Alfredo finished with 32 strokes in his second nine holes of the day at The Lakes Golf Club, four birdies and a solitary bogey, and has placed himself in a comfortable top 25 in the standings, with the lead far away, it’s true, but with a place for the Open Championship 2024 three strokes away. Not bad as motivation and incentive for the weekend.
Rafa Cabrera Bello has signed one of the comebacks of the day today. He delivered a card of 66 strokes at The Lakes, the best, with a powerful start. The Canarian has shown his fangs and has gone into attack mode. He started on the 10th and made four consecutive birdies between the 11th and 14th. He added one more on the 16th. In a flash, he had erased Thursday’s bad result and had made the cut. From there, it was time to swim and save the clothes. All pars and one more birdie. First objective in the bag. And, above all, the pleasant feeling that confidence in the swing is increasing and that allows him to be more aggressive in the shots to the flag when needed.
Joel Moscatel and Ángel Ayora will also be there for the weekend. Bravo for Moscatel’s Australian tour. Two tournaments and two cuts. And he hasn’t yet entered one of those trance-birdies that are usual for him. Who knows if they won’t come on Saturday or Sunday. For his part, Ayora has more than justified his invitation. Round of 72 strokes at The Australian and to the weekend. It was a struggle (and we’ll tell you about it because it was one of the stories of the day), but it was worth it. Four out of four.
As we were saying, the leader is Min Woo Lee (-12), the extraterrestrial of world golf in this last part of the year. Every month or two, beyond the unstoppable Scheffler, Rahm or McIlroy, someone appears who is in another dimension. Now it’s the Australian’s turn. We’ll see how long it lasts, but for now it’s amazing. In his last 47 days he has played 18 official rounds of golf and his balance is as follows: 66.5 strokes on average, eight rounds of 64 strokes or less, just three cards above 70 and his results are 1st, 6th, 15th, 1st and whatever happens this week…
The young Australian, who wants to shoot to the PGA Tour, leads the tournament with a three-stroke lead over American Patrick Rodgers (-9) and Scotsman Connor Syme (-9) and four over Sam Brazel (-8), Jhonattan Vegas (-8) and Joaco Niemann (-8). Cameron Smith (-4) has made the cut, but is far from the lead, as is Michael Block (-2), a PGA professional who lived a fairy tale at the Grande of Oak Hill in May, and defending champion Adrian Meronk (-2). Robert MacIntyre missed out.
Jiyai Shin leads the Women’s Australian Open
As for the girls, who are also playing their Australian Open, Korean Jiyai Shin (-9) leads, the golfer who once ruled the world, before deciding to leave the United States to return home. She has a two-stroke lead over Ashleigh Buhai (-7) and three over Jenny Shin (-6). Minjee Lee (PAR) has lost a lot of ground in this second round.
