The PGA Championship, the second Major of the year, takes place in two weeks at the Aronimink course in Philadelphia and, for now, we only have two Spaniards with their places secured. One is Jon Rahm and the other is David Puig. Beyond that, there is a third with fairly reasonable chances, although nothing can be taken for granted. That is Ángel Ayora. He is ranked 107th in the world. In recent years, many from that position have received invitations, but not all. It is not something to be assumed. A final push this week with a good performance at the Turkish Airlines Open to move closer to that 100th spot, which would undoubtedly secure him a place, would not go amiss.
From here, the main qualifying route is the Asian Swing, which allocates places to the top three in this mini-series of the DP World Tour. Three events have already been played and only Turkey remains to close the standings, so the calculations of what the Spaniards need to finish in that coveted top 3 can already be made. For now, none are qualified. The top three are Jordan Gumberg, Alex Fitzpatrick and Bernd Wiesberger. The three places are theirs. They need to beat them in Turkey. There is no alternative.
In this regard, it should be emphasised that the places are for the top three only and exclusively. In other words, no spot is passed down, even if Fitzpatrick is already qualified by his victory in the Zurich Classic. You have to finish ahead of him. If Fitzpatrick finishes among the top three, then only two will qualify via the Asian Swing.
With that laid out, these are the calculations for the Spaniards. Jorge Campillo and Eugenio Chacarra are the ones with the best chances. The rest can only qualify by winning, although any of them winning would have a good chance.
– Jorge Campillo. He is 5th on the Asian Swing with 429.42 points. He needs to be at least sole fourth to have a chance of finishing in the top 3. Being sole third would guarantee him a place in the PGA Championship.
– Eugenio Chacarra. He is 6th on the Asian Swing with 416.30. Identical situation to Jorge. Fourth to have a chance, and third would secure it.
The rest of the Spaniards have to win. There is no other option. None of them would qualify even by finishing alone in second. These include Ángel Ayora, Quim Vidal, Alex del Rey, Sebas García, Rafa Cabrera, Ángel Hidalgo, Manu Elvira, Iván Cantero, Nacho Elvira, Rocco Repetto, Adri Arnaus and Alfredo García Heredia. It is most likely that for the last two even a victory would not be enough. Alfredo was the last to get into Turkey. David Puig also plays this week, but he, as has already been written, is already qualified for the PGA.
An important nuance regarding Ayora. It is true that only a win will get him into the PGA via the Asian Swing, but anything from a top 10 upwards would also practically open the doors via the world ranking. Right now he is ranked 107th. That, in theory, will not be known until next week.
