David Puig is finally in the position he has longed for in recent months. He has 18 holes ahead and leads a tournament at LIV Golf, at the Houston Golf Club. There is no better or more effective way to stop hearing that logical question, which he himself has asked, but which is nonetheless uncomfortable: what happens to you in LIV Golf tournaments, why don’t you get the same good results that you apparently easily achieve when you play outside the Saudi league?
Puig still has a lot to fight for to win the tournament. Not surprisingly, he is tied with Paul Casey, Adrian Meronk and Carlos Ortiz, curiously the player with whom he made the swap last year between Toque and Fireballs. Be that as it may and whatever happens, David has already taken a big step forward. It will be the first time he goes out with real and serious options to win a tournament at LIV Golf. He may not take the victory, but the results are already coming.
“It has definitely been frustrating, but I always tell everyone who asks me the same thing. I have been playing the same… I have been having the same level in LIV competitions and in others. I just haven’t been able to make a result and for some reason I haven’t made the putts I was supposed to make, a couple of rebounds here and there… Obviously, the results are quite bad in general if you look at the whole season. Maybe those two top 15s are fine, but in the rest of the tournaments I have been more down than up. I know I’m playing well, so this week being up makes me feel a bit better, but yes, I have confidence and I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” he says with serenity and conviction.
The key to the second day was halfway through the round, although the start was important. “We had a good day. I started pretty well. I made a couple of good pars at the beginning, I got going in the middle of the round and finished pretty well, I finished strong. I’m excited to start getting better results and have a chance on Sunday,” he assures.
The only notch left in his brilliant and budding career is LIV Golf. He knows it and is eager for it. He never doubted his possibilities. “I know I’m still young, obviously, but I’ve already put in many hours of hard work in my short career and seeing the results start to come, especially on this tour where I haven’t played as well yet, is very good. I think I played pretty well in Asia and maybe in some qualifiers for the majors, but I haven’t played as well as I wanted here at LIV, and it’s good that the results are coming,” he points out.
The Olympic Games are also in the sights of the Catalan golfer. “Right now I’m in. There are two Spaniards who are trying to catch up with me because everything is very tight. Obviously I wish them luck, but yes, I think the deadline is just after the US Open, so I have a small chance there in case they overtake me this week in Sweden. Yes, it would be great to play alongside Jon at the Olympic Games. It would be a dream come true, for sure,” he highlights.
Another goal will be to win the team classification that his Fireballs currently lead. “We haven’t had a good result this year yet. I know we finished… I think second or third in Singapore (second), but we haven’t played as we are supposed to being such a good team as we are. I’m going for both things. Obviously, I want to play well for myself, but if I play well for myself, I will also help the Fireballs, so I hope we can win both.”
Puig knows that it will be difficult to achieve victory, as the classification is very tight and there are very good players at the top, but he trusts in his options. “When there are many names at the top you can’t imagine all the scenarios, but in the end you have to play your best golf and give yourself a chance, and hopefully be good enough to beat everyone else. They are all very good. That’s why they are at the top almost every week. But I know I’m good too. I haven’t had my chances yet, but I know I’m good. I know I have game. I think if I bring out my best golf, it will be enough,” he emphasizes.
