Santi Tarrio and Alex del Rey have lived through some unique days. Both have spent a good handful of hours as the first and second reserve of the Genesis Scottish Open, the best regular tournament in the history of the DP World Tour.
Needless to say, both wanted to play in Scotland, but it so happens that this same week, if they finally didn’t get in, they had the possibility of travelling to Kentucky to compete in the ISCO Championship, another hybrid tournament between the European Tour and the PGA Tour although of less importance, where they were sure to get in.
Obviously, they were going to exhaust their chances of being in Scotland to the maximum, but the million-dollar question is: until when? Therein lies the uncertainty. It’s not the same to catch a plane for a trip around Europe of one or two hours than having to cross the pond on a flight of more than nine hours, probably with a stopover.
Well, in this sense, it must be said that both Tarrio and Del Rey had it very clear from minute one. The decision was to go to Scotland and forget about the ISCO Championship. “I was clear that whatever happened, I was not going to go to Kentucky…”, assures Santi. The Galician had many chances of getting into Scotland, as the tournament kept a place for the winner of the BMW International Open, as long as he was not classified. As Ferguson, champion in Germany, did have a place, from Sunday itself, he was clear that he would debut in Scotland.
Because yes, it will be the first Scottish Open for Santi, who takes it with great enthusiasm. “The course is spectacular. I’ve played the practice round and I really liked it. Complicated weather is expected, but that’s what you expect here”, he says. Be that as it may, Tarrio’s connection with Scotland is very positive. After all, his first great performance on the DP World Tour was at the Hero Open in 2021, in St Andrews, when he was still a player on the Challenge Tour. He went out in the star match on Sunday alongside two Scots, Grant Forrest and Calum Hill, and finished third.
However, even though he is in Scotland, Santi is not going to miss next week’s Barracuda Championship tournament in the United States… as long as, of course, he does not qualify for the Open at Royal Troon this week (there are three places reserved for the three best who make the cut and are not already qualified). “I’m definitely going to the Barracuda. Besides the fact that I like the course, even though it hasn’t been very good for me, there in Truckee (California) there are some very good places to spend a couple of hours and make a couple of throws, that’s always a good excuse”, says the Compostelan, a great fan of freshwater fishing.
Santi will play in Scotland in the last outing of the day, alongside Taylor Montgomery and Jens Dantorp.
On the other hand, Alex del Rey has to keep waiting for his chance for now. He is the first reserve and will only play if a golfer drops out at the last minute. All that remains is to cross fingers. He arrived in Scotland this Tuesday. The wait is worth it to compete in a tournament of this caliber. However, whatever happens, Del Rey will not go to play the Barracuda. So, either he plays Scotland or he goes on holiday. That’s his plan.
