Second tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour, fourth round and first calling card laid on the table of the second division of the American circuit. A show of strength by Pablo Ereño and, above all, a confidence boost in the second round of the Memorial Health Championship presented by LRS, a tournament being played at the Panther Creek Country Club course in Springfield, Illinois.
After missing the cut in his first appearance in Kansas and starting with a modest score of 74 this week, Ereño signed a sensational result of 64, seven under par, in the second round. It wasn’t enough to make the cut, he missed it by just one stroke, but it certainly served to prove and prove to himself many things. He has only just begun his professional journey and there’s no need to rush, but the sooner these confidence-boosting rounds come, the better.
In the Korn Ferry Tour, you have to go very low to be at the top. In fact, the cut this week was set at five under par and the lead with 18 holes to go is at -21. After the initial 74, Pablo made it really tough for himself, but his fightback was so impressive that he even had a chance to play the weekend on the 18th hole. “It was a very eventful day. I started playing on Friday, after three holes it was suspended, we resumed at seven in the evening and I managed to play until the 11th hole, and this morning (Saturday) I played the remaining seven holes,” explained the Madrid native to Ten Golf.
It was, therefore, a masterful performance in three acts. And to think it didn’t start well. The player trained at UCLA began with a bogey on the 1st hole. One could say that the first interruption in play did him good, as he returned to make a birdie on the 4th and four more on the 6th, 7th, 10th, and 11th until play was halted again due to lack of light.
Upon his return the next day, Pablo continued to play very well, especially in recoveries around the green and with the putter. He made another birdie on the 13th and two more in succession on the 16th and 17th. That’s when an opportunity arose. “The cut became very real with the birdie on the 17th. It’s a par 3 of 210 metres and I hit a very good 5-iron. It went a bit past the flag, but I made the five-metre putt. I was one shot away from the cut and tried on the 18th. I hit a good drive and left myself a second shot of 177 metres. I thought I had nailed the shot with the 7-iron. It was excellent, but it flew a bit too far and went long. It ended up in the first cut of rough. I had a chip to make the cut. It wasn’t easy, but it was possible. I removed the flag, but it didn’t go in. A shame. I’m happy with the round, but somewhat frustrated for being so close to the cut and not making it,” he confessed to this outlet.
Be that as it may, and despite the disappointment of not playing all four days, Pablo has shown his true potential. He has demonstrated what he is capable of. In a way, you could say he has opened the can, and now we can expect many good things from one of the best NCAA college players in the last four years. Let’s remember he had never played a professional tournament, so some time must be given to adapt to the new environment. His round of 64 was the second-best of the day, only surpassed by the 63 of Austin Smotherman. Moreover, no one made more birdies than him (8) in that second round. And those are big words in this circuit of hungry wolves.
Next week there is no Korn Ferry Tour tournament. It returns on July 13th in Colorado. From there, Ereño will have a total of ten tournaments where he has two objectives. The first is to accumulate the minimum necessary to finish in the top 75 and retain playing rights for the circuit next year. The second, more ambitious, is to finish in the top 20 and secure one of the PGA Tour cards for next year. Whether it’s one thing or the other, or even neither, this part of the season will serve Ereño to learn and gain totally necessary experience.
By the way, the tournament leader is Mexican Álvaro Ortiz, brother of Carlos, a LIV player. He has a four-stroke lead and is chasing his first victory on the Korn Ferry Tour. If he wins, he would move to seventh in the ranking.
