David Ravetto (-23) achieved his first career victory this Sunday at the DP World Tour by winning the D+D Real Czech Masters. His victory came, as so many times before, when it was least expected. He arrived in Prague having missed three consecutive cuts, six out of seven, and only two of his last fourteen rounds under 70 strokes. You don’t have to be a genius to guess that he was neither at his best in terms of play nor confidence. But that’s golf. The blessed and wonderful click comes when you least expect it. That moment when the pieces fit together, the swing flows naturally, the ball goes to the spot and the putts start to fall. Something clicked this week in Ravetto’s golf and there is his first victory.
It was Jorge Campillo on the Provisional Ball, the podcast of Ten Golf, who a year ago, slipped his name. “Watch out for Ravetto, I’ve played with him and I like him. Good player. He does well,” he said. At that time, the French golfer was playing his first year on the European Tour fresh from School, with a Brabazon Trophy as his best amateur achievement and few credentials after passing through a lesser American university like Texas Wesleyan. Nobody had noticed Ravetto, but Jorge saw something in him. “I really like how he hits the driver,” he confirmed this same Sunday in conversation with Ten Golf.
Ravetto hit the driver very well in the last round of the Czech Masters, but he did many other things well. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have signed a card of 64 strokes, one off the record of the PGA National OAKS in Prague, with the pressure of fighting for victory on his shoulders. The first one. He has been very solid from tee to green, has hit very good irons, has come out unscathed from some more complicated situation, like on the 14th and, above all, has been very fine with the putter in the hottest moments.
Top class bunker shot from Ravetto to hold onto his one-shot lead 🤩#CzechMasters pic.twitter.com/YT2bCKKqrc
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) August 18, 2024
His triumph was decided after a thrilling head-to-head with Jesper Svensson (-19). The Swede saw how the Frenchman overtook him with a great start to the round and stepped on the accelerator. He was as aggressive as one can be and this kind of strategies sometimes work out well and sometimes they don’t. Today it was tails for the Nordic, especially on the 16th, where the tournament was decided. He missed the tee shot to the left again, like Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but this time that galactic wood that saved him yesterday didn’t appear. He missed the third shot, his approach wasn’t good and he still missed a last short putt for bogey. Result: 7. Game over.
Ravetto had a one-stroke lead, after sinking a high-pressure putt for birdie on the 15th, about two and a half meters, just after a birdie from Svensson that tied him at the top. He left the 16th with four. He got a great birdie with two putts from the beginning of the green and clinched his first victory.
Ravetto, at last, stops suffering. This year he won’t have to go to School, as has happened the last two, obtaining the rights in both cases, by the way. Nor the one coming. The victory in Prague gives him two years of exemption. It gives him peace of mind to try to find stability and solidity in his game. It’s clear that he has something, but it’s hard for him to bring it out. In 2024 he played 20 tournaments between the Challenge Tour (he wasn’t sure about the DP), he only made eight cuts and of those eight he won two. He also won the Dimension Data Pro Am of the Challenge in February. In fact, he was 24th in the Road to Mallorca. His victory is also great news for all those who are fighting to get the DP World Tour card through the Challenge. They just got rid of a rival.
The best Spaniard in the Czech Masters was Adri Arnaus (-14). The golfer from Moià finished the tournament with a round of 64 strokes, with eight birdies and no bogeys, and climbed 45 positions to finish just outside the top 10. This is a Sunday well spent. He gains ten positions in the Race to Dubai, which gives him some breathing space in his battle to keep the card and look further up in the rankings. Now he needs to find the necessary continuity in the tournaments to fight for victories again. He looks very close.
In the top 30 finished Ángel Hidalgo (-12), today 70 strokes, and Nacho Elvira (-12), today 69. Further back finished Santi Tarrio (-7), who said goodbye with a round of par.
