The Scottish golfer David Drysdale, a rookie on the Legends Tour, has taken the lead on his own with 7 under par at the San Sebastián course, Real Nuevo Club de San Sebastián, Basozábal, establishing a three-shot advantage over Horne and Gallacher on the first day, where the best Spaniard was Miguel Ángel Martín.
David Drysdale is competing in his first season on the Legends Tour, where he has already achieved 3 top 10 finishes: 3rd in Barbados, 7th in Ireland, and a 2nd place in China, and he is striving for his first victory in Spain, where he already won in his early professional years, when he was fighting to reach the top, at the Challenge del Prat in 2006. Almost 20 years later, he starts with the same strength, presenting a card with six birdies and an eagle for a bogey, and a total of 7 under par.
The Scot assures that “I played very solidly. I hit many good shots, felt quite in control throughout the day. There are really tough tee shots, so I’m happy. I left the ball close from the start and holed a six-metre putt for eagle on the 5th hole. From there, I played very solidly and was able to finish with a nine-metre putt across the green on the last hole. The course is fantastic, it’s a great design, it’s very demanding, and some of the climbs to the tees are tough. So now I’m going to take it easy, relax tonight, and save energy for the coming days”.
Three shots behind the leader are Keith Horne, the South African who won precisely in China where the leader was left wanting in 2nd place by just one shot, and the Junior Ryder Cup captain, Stephen Gallacher.
Horne, with 68 strokes, assures that “today was a mix of everything, very good with the Driver, which allowed me to have many birdie opportunities, and I played the par 5s very well, making 5 under par, and that kept me in rhythm. I played the irons and reading the greens worse; this course offers many challenges, and you can’t miss on the wrong side”.
As for the current Junior Ryder Cup captain, Gallacher, who started like a shot, with 6 birdies in 7 holes, considers that 68 “was a great round for me. I missed a short putt on the 7th to get seven in a row. Then I had a backspin on the 9th and a bad shot on the 10th that slowed me down. I hit the ball very well and let some putts slip, but it’s a good start to build on. It’s a demanding course, you have to be very precise, and it’s a great test of golf”.
The first Spanish player classified is Miguel Ángel Martín, who, starting in the first match of the day, began with three consecutive bogeys and turned it around with five birdies and one more bogey for a total of 1 under par: “I played quite badly, very badly with the Driver, quite poorly, and it’s complicated like that, but I held on very well to the putter, and that was the key. I think I haven’t putted this well in years. But I’m happy with how I resolved it”.
The host, José María Olazábal, signed 75 strokes on a day that “had a bit of everything. There were two serious accidents: on the seventh hole, I missed the driver, hit it out of bounds, and then made three putts that cost me a triple bogey; and on the 13th hole, I hit the third shot well, thought I wouldn’t have problems passing the water, and I don’t know if it caught a stronger gust of wind than we thought because it went into the water and cost me a double bogey.
The rest of the course, I would say, was orderly, it wasn’t spectacular, I did what I could with the Drive given my situation, and I’m happy to have been able to go out and play because yesterday afternoon I thought I wouldn’t be able to. This morning I felt a little better, with a little less pain. I hit some balls, and now I’m relatively fine. My left shoulder bothers me, I have a muscle tear, the good thing is it’s a longitudinal tear, and, within the bad, the doctors say it’s not so bad.
Let’s see if I rest well tonight, tomorrow I’ll get up, and I hope to be able to play again.
I’m very happy about the fact that we have a tournament of this calibre here. That’s a huge satisfaction and pride, and what I would like is for both the members and the people who come to see it to enjoy it. I think it’s going to be three interesting days, and the level is good. It’s worth coming, seeing, and enjoying the game of all these players”.
Tomorrow, Saturday, the second round of the European Legends Cup by José María Olazábal will take place, starting at 9, and they will go out in reverse order of classification, with the leaders in the last matches at 12:29 pm.
The European Legends Cup by José María Olazábal at the Real Nuevo Club de San Sebastián, Basozábal, supported by the Legends Tour, European Tour Group, and Staysure, Basquetour (Basque Tourism Agency), the City Council of Donostia/San Sebastián, the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, and the Basque Golf Federation, as well as Cuatrecasas, Reale/Galpe, Viñas Familia Gil, Maximiliano Jabugo, Joyería Olazábal, Cadena Cope Guipúzcoa, Mahou-Solán, TOA Shoes, and Titleist under the organization of JGolf.
