Daniel Brown (-9) started his round today at the Real Club de Golf Sotogrande missing three rather short consecutive birdie putts on holes 1, 2, and 3. From less than three metres, indeed. And after saving a tricky situation on the daunting par 3 of the 4th hole, which will most likely end up being the toughest hole of the week, he went on to score nine under in the last fourteen holes of the course, taking just 29 strokes on the back nine, where he displayed a killer game: when he didn’t leave it close, he holed it, even from off the green. Needless to say, he is the provisional leader of the tournament, once the morning session of play concluded.
This is the same guy who carded a 65 three months ago in the first round of the Open, at a Royal Troon where such a score simply didn’t exist that day. That’s Daniel Brown for you, absolutely unpredictable. His season is already made, but he is now on the hunt for higher goals: securing his presence in the first playoff in Abu Dhabi, in the Dubai Final, or even aiming to capture one of the ten PGA Tour cards. With rounds like today, anything seems within his reach…
Eugenio López Chacarra (-4), on the other hand, finished his round with a sprint, with three birdies in the last four holes (finishing on the 9th) that have taken him into the top ten of the tournament. For now, he is also the best Spaniard. And things could have ended in an epic manner for him, as he was close to holing out from out of position on the 9th hole to complete a final birdie quartet. A good start for the Madrid native. Alejandro del Rey (-3), another Madrid native, also had a good start, playing high-level golf, although he couldn’t fully capitalise on the greens.
The big favourite, Jon Rahm (-2), salvaged a rather lacklustre day, too erratic with the irons, with a good final result. “In the last few holes, I tried to think less about technique and the wind and just hit the ball well, and it worked for me,” he noted at the end. Meanwhile, others like Rasmus Hojgaard (-5), Tom McKibbin (-5), or Fabrizio Zanotti (-5) are already well-positioned on the leaderboard.
That said, we must keep a close eye on what the Frenchman Julien Guerrier is capable of doing, as at the time of editing this provisional report, he was nine under through the first eleven holes of his round…
