– The Malagueño Rocco Repetto had gone to the hotel yesterday with a score of PAR over ten holes at the time of the final suspension due to a thunderstorm during the first round of the BMW Australian PGA Championship, which was actually also the first competitive round of his career on the DP World Tour. Today, after the resumption of play, he carded a bogey on the 2nd hole (he had started on the 10th) and was at +1 with six holes to go…
– Well, it was nothing extraordinary, but neither a tragedy nor a dramatic situation. The aim was to finish as best as possible and put himself in a position to make the first cut of his career on the European circuit, especially with those two par 5s awaiting him at the end of his round, holes 7 and 9. Then, right at that moment, the young Spaniard unleashed an unstoppable hurricane that will ensure this round of golf, so significant, remains forever etched in his memory over the years (and even decades) for more reasons than just a debut in the top division.
– He finished his round on the 9th hole of the Royal Queensland Golf Club and signed off the following final series to climb to second place: birdie on the 4th hole, birdie on the 5th, eagle on the 6th, eagle on the 7th, birdie on the 8th, and birdie on the 9th. There is no typographical error: eight under for his last six holes, climbing a hundred places in the standings in just an hour and a half and ending up just one shot behind the leader, another Spaniard, Sebastián García (-8), who in turn had completed the three remaining holes of the first round with a score of one under.
– Such are the things. On the first hole he played after the resumption, the 2nd hole of the Australian course, his ball hit a playing partner’s ball after he shot the second shot with a wedge in hand, ending up in a tricky position and resulting in a bogey. However, after making excellent birdies on the 4th and 5th holes, he then holed out from 64 metres on the 6th for an eagle. Immediately after, having played the par 5 of the 7th by the book from tee to green, he sank a putt of about five metres to string together another eagle. He would still make another birdie on the 8th, a par 3 that is usually played as one of the most challenging on the course, and even left a final flourish for the 9th, par 5: after playing a somewhat poor approach to the green with his third shot, he holed a final long putt from about twenty metres to close the extraordinary series.
“My first round in Australia; my first round on the DP World Tour… So I am very, very happy. I think I will remember it for a long time”, Rocco told the local media after signing his card and, in fact, shortly before heading out to play the second round. As if he could forget it. Sooner or later, when the time comes, he will have to tell this tale to his grandchildren.
– Final note: Michael Wright, aged 51, watched incredulously alongside Italian Stefano Mazzoli at the formidable feat of the debutant. It would be worth asking the veteran Australian if he had ever seen anything like it in his long career…
