David Puig (PAR) has delivered a scorecard of 71 strokes on the first day of the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. It’s a very good result to kick off the second Major of the year and, in his case, it can even be considered a small miracle. When he teed off at the 1st early this Thursday, Puig had hit just 30 balls on the practice range in the last ten days, had only played nine holes, and, to top it off, had only slept four hours. This was the finishing touch. The three-hour time difference with Arizona played a trick on him, and he couldn’t sleep until midnight yesterday.
With all this on the table, it doesn’t seem exaggerated to call the round a miracle. Especially considering that with three holes to go, the dreaded Green Mile, the golfer from La Garriga was three under par, even fighting at that moment to finish as the tournament leader. In the first 15 holes, he played very well, hit spectacularly from the tee, and left himself a good number of birdie opportunities. The bogey on the 16th, after missing the fairway to the left and failing to recover from the greenside bunker, and the double bogey on the 18th, after probably hitting the worst drive of the year, should not overshadow his performance. Puig didn’t want to make excuses, but it’s undeniable that the back discomfort, as well as the lack of activity in recent days, may have influenced this abrupt finish.
Puig’s round was scrutinised from start to finish by Dave Phillips, his coach, who also works with Jon Rahm, and Katty, the physiotherapist he also shares with the golfer from Barrika. One was watching the shots, the swing of the Spanish player, checking if there was anything unusual caused by the discomfort. The other focused solely on his back. She has been his guardian angel in recent days to get him ready to play the PGA and was so again today during the round. She was there just in case he needed her, in case his back seized up. Fortunately, her intervention wasn’t needed. Puig himself gave a lot of credit to Katty’s hands, as well as to all his team and family. “If there’s one word I can use to define this first round, it’s pride. I think yes, it was a small miracle considering that on Tuesday I barely had a chance to play,” he explained to the Spanish media present in Charlotte.
It’s only the first day of the PGA. We know how these things go. The adrenaline in these situations can often overcome everything. Now it’s time to see how Puig’s body recovers from the effort. These are his first 18 holes in ten days. The good news is that the player himself notices a positive evolution in the last few hours, so he hopes to feel a bit better tomorrow. It remains to be seen how he recovers from this effort. For now, he has decided not to hit balls after playing. Just to recover and be as ready as possible for the second round.
