There will be no Spanish victory at the Emirates Golf Club. The wait for the seventh continues. This is the first conclusion of the moving day at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.
The second is that the Armada was let down by the two most important clubs in the bag. Iván Cantero (-3) was abandoned by the driver, and the others were left stranded by the putter. If one of these fails, especially on a day complicated by the wind and the increasingly hard greens of Dubai, it’s game over. It’s like a football team trying to stay in the Premier League without a goalkeeper and a striker in form. There’s no way.
Cantero was walking down the 8th fairway hand in hand with his caddie, Adolfo Juan Luna. He shook his head. “No Adolf, no, we’re not taking out the driver anymore,” he said. He had just hit two from the tee, both far to the left, on the verge of disaster. Earlier, he had missed 40 metres to the right on the 6th and missed again to the left on the 3rd, needing a provisional once more. “If we keep using the driver, we won’t finish the round,” Adolfo concluded at the end of the round.
Said and done. Benched the star. Even if it hurts. And much more on a day like today, with a very spicy wind, strong gusts, and at times very much against. On the 9th, they took out the mini driver (or 2-wood, if you prefer). “See, it might come out better or worse, but at least it goes along the line I’m looking for,” Iván said as he left the tee. No more discussion. From there to the end, mini driver all the way.
It’s a luxury Cantero can afford. He has such power that he can survive with the star’s substitute. Remember that superb Henrik Stenson who won everything in Europe and the United States? Well, don’t forget he didn’t hit a single driver. He was more than enough with that tweaked 3-wood that travelled to infinity. The Asturian with the mini driver ended up each time at the level of the South African Casey Jarvis‘s drive, and he’s not exactly short on distance.
The benching did wonders for the driver. Iván hadn’t planned on using it again in the round, but on the 16th tee, he gave it one last chance. “On that tee shot, there’s no penalty danger on the sides, the only thing you have is rough, and it’s better to be longer in the tall grass than shorter,” he explains. That was the reasoning for giving it the starting role. The response was extraordinary. The time in the thinking corner did it wonders. He hit the fairway and made over 320 yards against the wind. Ancelotti could try doing the same with Vinicius one day.
Whatever the case, beyond that absolute inconsistency with the driver, Cantero’s round today was in holes 4, 5, and 7. He came from an extraordinary start, with three birdies on holes 1, 2, and 3. He played the first hole textbook style, with a great drive, the 2nd hole as well, and on the 3rd, despite the initial error with the driver, he made a birdie with a great third shot and a good putt. However, the slowdown was absolute due to a somewhat timid approach on the 4th, and a short missed putt, three putts on the 5th, the second missed from a metre, and a somewhat poor bunker shot on the 7th. Without those errors, perhaps the round and even the driver would have had a different story.
In any case, Cantero and Adolfo managed to pull off a valuable round of +1 that at any other time could have gone awry. They knew how to stay, hold on, and find the resources that gave the player more confidence to finish with the best possible result. Another short putt that escaped him on the 18th, after two very good mini drivers and a great approach, prevented him from finishing the day at par, a good result in these conditions. He’s beyond the 30th position, but the top 10 is not a chimera. He’s four strokes away.
The rest of the Spaniards were heavily burdened by the putter. Nacho Elvira (-1) ended up frustrated. The longest putt he made was a metre. His two birdies were on the 2nd, given, and on the 12th, holing an approach from off the green, about 18 metres. Nothing more. A day to forget on the greens. A round of 75 strokes and rowing on Sunday to finish as high as possible. The same can be said for Alfredo García Heredia (PAR) and Ángel Hidalgo (+1), rounds of 76 and 75 strokes. The furthest putt they both made was two metres. Very difficult like this. Lastly, Adrián Otaegui (PAR) delivered a par result with three birdies and three bogeys. A great Sunday is needed to chase points and a cheque.
