Pau Gasol is about to make a shot from the sand on the 18th green at Valderrama. Pro-Am day of the LIV Andalucía. This living legend of Spanish sport has played the first nine holes with Jon Rahm and the second with Dean Burmester. A final effort to certify a notable result (his team is not going to win, but it will finish among the best). As he is still settling on the ball in the sand trap, he realizes that someone is recording everything just a few meters away. He looks, outlines a half smile and simply says: “let’s see how it goes”. He takes the ball out of the bunker, although it comes out loose. It’s not bad, but let’s say it loud and clear: the shot is not up to what Pau himself expects his standard of play to be in the not too distant future…
He attends to the media at the very foot of the 18th green and acknowledges that a course like Valderrama can be frustrating for an average player, but it is clear that he enjoys the challenge. He takes pride in the achievements of Spanish sport in this frantic month of July of the Euro football, pre-Olympic basketball and Alcaraz’s semi-finals at Wimbledon; and he hopes that in Paris the Spanish athletes can surpass the haul of the 22 medals from Barcelona 92, although he will not be the one to trigger the euphoria. Pau has never been one to count his chickens before they hatch…
Later, in a brief chat with Tengolf, as he is already heading to the locker room, he opens up about his goals in the tumultuous world of golf. He assures that he does not have a specific record as an objective and wraps his speech in caution. He says he aspires to be the best golfer he can be and admits that he may not always be able to dedicate so much time to it, if his professional and family obligations increase. But also, as if it were nothing, he feints, turns around and leaves a little hook, as he acknowledges that he would like to approach the demanding profile of a scratch player. And compete in tournaments with such a label. Yes, yes, scratch, handicap 0. He still has a way to go, but you have to take this kind of competitors at their word.
