Rafa Cabrera Bello, a big fan of surfing, keeps riding the good wave. After last week’s performance the Open de España champion has carded a first round 68, one shot behind leader Julien Guerrier, in tough conditions at Real Club Valderrama.
“You need to have a lot of respect for this course, but I feel confident and I’m managing to bring the good feelings to the course. If I don’t trust myself after a win, I don’t know when I’m going to do it. There’s a lot of difficult shots out there, but I have many recent memories of things going well, so I just go for it. I hit the shot that I think is right and it’s working fine!”
The wind that blew all day on Thursday adds to the merits of Rafa’s score.
“This might be one of my best rounds at Valderrama. It’s hard enough to shoot under par in calm conditions, with wind it just makes it all that tougher. The greens were fast and firm, so you really had to focus. There were some good shots that ended badly, but I was able to hold on, I took advantage of the opportunities and the putt helped me a lot today”.
In contrast, Jon Rahm had a difficult start, although he never lost his nerve and his performance improved as the holes went by, but his putter was cold and he was unable to come back. Despite his opening 78, tough conditions at Real Club Valderrama leave the door open as only ten players finished in the red on Thursday.
“Tough day, but I never gave up. 78 is better than 79, and every shot counts because the cut will be high if we have this wind tomorrow. I like this golf course and I want to play well, but I had a disappointing start. I didn’t make a single birdie, I never got started. I gave myself some opportunities and hit some good putts, but they refused to fall.”
Leader Julien Guerrier was almost faultless from tee to green and very pleased with his putting, including a few long ones. The Frenchman, third last week at the Spanish Open, seems to have caught the same wave as Rafa Cabrera Bello and having saved his card aims for higher goals.
“I think I’m more relaxed after last week. I’m playing to shoot a low score, not to save my card, that’s the main thing.”
As for the other Spanish participants, Alejandro Cañizares and Pablo Larrazábal carded well fought rounds of par with Nacho Elvira and Sebastián García Rodríguez one behind (+1).
INSIDE THE ROPES
Patience is key at Valderrama
Players at Valderrama keep repeating the word “patience”, particularly those who are familiar with the course. Besides the usual difficulties of the layout, patience is a priceless ally in windy conditions.
Alejandro Cañizares and Sebastián García Rodríguez made good use of it to finish on par and +1 respectively.
"A round of +3 is not pretty but it's quite usual on this course. You know that if you don't give up and stay focused, as soon as you make a couple of birdies you'll be in the top positions, something that doesn't happen in any other tournament of the year," said Cañizares, who knows Real Club Valderrama really well.
Sebas García confirms this: "As I played today I would be -4 or -5 any other week, but here I am happy with +1. These two years on Tour have taught me to be patient and keep my head, and that is essential on days like this."
Jon Rahm recalls what happened in Chicago
World number one is not giving up hope of getting into the fight with 54 holes to go.
"If anyone can do it, it's clearly me. Something similar happened in Chicago, playing the BMW Championships at Olympia Fields, when after two rounds I was +6 and I was able to fight for the title on Sunday to win the tournament. I will have to play under par tomorrow, and I have options for sure".
Only ten players under par
Soren Kjeldsen stands out among them three strokes behind the leader with -1. The Dane can boast of his record in previous editions of the tournament. He has played six times and has made the cut every time. His best result was a second place in 2010 and he has always finished in the top 50.
In addition, Kjeldsen won the Volvo Masters in 2008, was runner-up in 2007 and finished in the top 25 in five of the six editions he played. He finished fourth in the 2016 Open de España held at this venue. He is an expert on the demanding Valderrama course.
Tickets can still be purchased to enjoy this year's edition of the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters, and the flexibility of the offer allows to choose between individual access for each day, season tickets or passes for the weekend, with preferential rates for children under 14 years, federated golfers or people with reduced mobility.
Tickets can be purchased from the Tickets menú on the tournament website, at edamgolf.es or at Fever.
The Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters, an event in the European Tour’s Race to Dubai made possible by the essential contribution of the Real Club Valderrama, is sponsored by Estrella Damm and the Consejería de Turismo, Regeneración, Justicia y Administración Local of the Junta de Andalucía, jointly funded by the EU, declared Event of Exceptional Public Interest by the Government of Spain. This tournament is also supported by the Diputación de Cádiz, Exterior Plus, Hero, Rolex y Santander Private Banking. Callaway, Cinco Jotas, Enterprise, Gadira, Kyocera, La Reserva Club Sotogrande, Marca, Quirónsalud, the Real Federación Andaluza de Golf, Riversa, SO/ Sotogrande, Varma and Volvo are official suppliers.
