Jon Rahm won the Open de España in 2018. It was played at the Centro Nacional. Among those fighting to topple the giant from Barrika was Nacho Elvira. His image waving the Spanish flag on the 18th hole went viral. Since then, the Cantabrian has not made a cut in the tournament. Four out of four.
There are players for whom such a statistic might go unnoticed. This is not the case for Nacho. The statistic was burning him. In the days leading up to the Open de España, with the tournament still ahead, he confessed: “I am eager to do well in the Open de España.”
From saying to doing, sometimes, there’s a long way to go, much more so in Spain, however, Elvira’s reaction has been a great start in the Open de España. The golfer from Santander has delivered a card of 68 strokes and has placed in the eleventh position tied with Alfredo García Heredia (-3). The Asturian player needs a great performance this week to continue aspiring to keep the card.
Elvira has made three birdies, an eagle, and two bogeys. The eagle came by sinking a putt of about eight metres on the 4th. It’s a magnificent way to start considering what he was bringing with him. Not in vain, Elvira, who was third in 2018, came from missing the cut in the last four Open de España, too much for someone who lives this event with such intensity. In recent weeks he had already been warning that this week was marked in red.
Alfredo García Heredia (-3) has also started with a very promising under-par round. The Asturian is fighting to keep his DP World Tour card. Additionally, under par, in the afternoon, were David Puig (-2), Rafa Cabrera Bello (-2), Luis Masaveu (-1), and Alex del Rey (-1). The leader of the tournament is the Frenchman Ugo Coussaud (-6).
