The Spanish golf team started this Saturday with two good chances of victory in the South African Open. One was Iván Cantero and the other Rafa Cabrera Bello. They were five shots behind the leader with 36 holes to go. After the moving day, we are left without options. Neither one nor the other. Two stabs in the side, one of them treacherous. The South African national open continues to punish the Armada.
Rafa had a day to forget at the Durban Country Club. It wasn’t an easy day of golf on the old 1922 course. The wind blew strongly, more than any other day of the week, especially at the start and end of the round, and the Canary Islander paid dearly for it. He started with a four-over-par in five holes, with two consecutive bogeys on 1 and 2 and a double bogey on 5. He crashed against a wall and was unable to overcome it. He made another bogey on 7, and when it seemed he could straighten things out with a great birdie on 9, another double bogey and a bogey followed to halt any attempt to recover. Finally, a round of 78 strokes to plummet in the standings.
The first blow is hard to take, but it happens every week in all golf tournaments. Today, others like Joel Girrbach, MJ Viljoen, Justin Harding, Marcel Siem, Todd Clements, Sam Bairstow, or the leader himself Shaun Norris, who handed in a card of 76 strokes, have also fallen. It has really been a massacre with several of those who were at the top. As we say, Rafa’s is a blow, but it happens frequently; however, Iván Cantero’s was treacherous. The Asturian wasn’t playing very well, but he was holding on. He started with a double bogey on 2 but quickly recovered with three birdies on holes 3, 6, and 8. He stumbled again with a bogey on 10 but recovered with two more birdies on two not easy holes like 12 and 15, both par 3s.
At that moment, with three holes to go, he was at -11, in the fight for everything, three shots off the lead and touching the top 3 with his fingertips. But this is when the treacherous stab occurred. He made a bogey on 16, manageable, as it was blowing hard at that moment and it’s one of the most difficult holes on the course. However, immediately after, he disastrously missed the tee shot on 17. It went straight left. Out of bounds. The stab. The mistake cost him dearly. He made a triple bogey and was also unable to take advantage of 18, the short par 4 that is giving out birdies in abundance.
Thus, from being in the fight for victory, Cantero has dropped to -7, in 25th place. Victory is obviously off the radar now, and he will need to sign the best card of the day to give himself a chance to fight for the three spots in the Open Championship.
Such was the Saturday setback that Alex del Rey (-7) managed to tie with Cantero as the best Spaniards in Durban. The Madrid native handed in a card of 69 strokes, the fourth best of the day, and also placed in 25th position. He made five birdies and an eagle and four bogeys, all in the first nine holes. Del Rey has been improving this week, so it shouldn’t be ruled out that he still has something to say in the tournament tomorrow, not to win, as there are seven strokes of difference with the lead, but at least to add a new top 10 in this tournament that is so elusive for Spanish golf or even fight for a spot in the Open.
As for the lead, Laurie Canter (-14) and Dylan Naidoo (-14) are tied at the top. Needless to say, the Englishman, winner in Bahrain and with only five errors in 54 holes, is currently the big favourite for the win. One shot behind is Marco Penge (-13), who pulled off an incredible round with a lot of grit and great short game, and two shots behind are Darren Fichardt, the amateur Christiaan Maas, and Branden Grace. All of them are at -12. Precisely, -12 is currently the score that marks the cut for the Open spots.
