– Keita Nakajima hit the most spectacular shot of this edition of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic this Sunday. A shot for the history books. Inexplicably, it wasn’t captured by the tournament cameras. Or at least they haven’t shared it. We will always have the sensational drive from the fairway by Colin Montgomerie in 1996, but 29 years later, our friends at European Tour Productions missed it. Some things can’t be fixed by technology or the passage of time. The sense of timing. It’s really strange in this day and age. In any case, it will remain in the memory of all the very important people who were in the hospitality stand at the 18th, including Dr Pawan Munjal, owner of Hero and the absolute totem of this event. He was watching it from the front row, right above the 18th exit tunnel.
Nakajima holed it from about 213 metres. He should have his plaque next to Montgomerie’s. Well, a few metres further ahead to be more precise. The Japanese player hit a tremendous shot and, as often happens in these cases, had all the luck in the world. It bounced right on the slope that receives the green, stopped there, second bounce on the green, and rolled gently into the hole. A moment not to be forgotten and witnessed directly by Ten Golf, as Nakajima was playing with Cantero. The shot is worth about 40,000 dollars. It’s the difference between finishing in 21st place or 37th. Not bad at all.
– Watch out for Niklas Norgaard. He finished fourth in Dubai. In his last four appearances in the Rolex Series, he has achieved three top 10s: seventh at Wentworth, tenth in Abu Dhabi, and fourth here. He only ‘failed’ in the Dubai Final, where he finished 40th. Let’s see if the Dane is the dark horse for the Ryder Cup, as his performance in the Team Cup was also very good, the second-best from the continental team after Matthieu Pavon.
– The Team Cup may be liked more or less, may generate more or less controversy, but the reality is that the golfers who went through it and have been in Dubai this week have done very well. We had 13 at the Emirates, of which twelve made the cut (only Paul Waring missed out) and five finished in the top 10. It’s no joke. Hatton won, Canter was third, Norgaard fourth, McKibbin sixth, and Neergaard Petersen tenth. Either those who went to the Team Cup are very good, or precisely because they went to the Team Cup, they arrived in better form in Dubai… Or maybe it’s both.
– Ángel Hidalgo and Marcel Siem played together this Sunday in Dubai. Before heading out, they met in the physio room, table to table. They get along famously. Very similar character. They enjoy life. Siem said to Hidalgo: “Look, Ángel, seeing that we’re far behind and not playing for much, how about we bet on who shoots 67 today?” The Spaniard, of course, accepted the challenge. He’s up for that and much more. By the end of the 12th hole, Ángel was +4 for the day and the German was level par. Hidalgo approached and said: “Marcelo, how about we leave the 67 bet for another day?” Siem laughed heartily. Hats off to the good vibes that Hidalgo always exudes, whether it’s sunny, cold, rainy, or windy. It doesn’t matter.
– Alfredo García Heredia warns: “watch out for me on this Middle East tour”. He doesn’t say it exactly like that, but we paraphrase, if you don’t mind. The Spaniard insists that the result hasn’t done justice to his game. He’s very happy with how his golf is going. The work he’s done with Jorge Parada in recent days has been very beneficial. He’s convinced that in Ras al Khaimah, Bahrain, or Qatar, he’ll be in contention to win at least one week. At the Emirates, the problem was that the putter didn’t cooperate and some decisions could have been better, a result of the lack of competition.
– By the way, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, who was playing with him, asked for his putter at the end of the round and showed it to his coach. Don’t be surprised if you soon see the fun-loving Thai with another green goblin in his bag.
– The Hero Dubai Desert Classic is very curious because those who made the cut and are fighting to finish as best as possible this week coincide on Saturday and Sunday with those who missed out and stay to train because the next tournament is in Ras al Khaimah, an hour’s drive from the Emirates. For this reason, on Sunday we saw Manu Elvira and Alex del Rey put in a serious putting session… You know where the cracks are in what happened this week for these two Spaniards.
