Mission accomplished: Gonzalo Fernández Castañop (-4) did the math in the days prior to the Andalucía Valderrama Masters, and thus made it his goal to finish within the top 15 of the tournament, which would secure him a spot among the top 116 in the Race to Dubai, and ultimately allow him to maintain the rights to play in the European Tour 2019. In the end, he passed the test with flying colors, finishing in an astounding fifth place, and even brushing up against the possibility of taking home the victory at certain points.
It’s an even more daunting accomplishment when considering what a peculiar, tough week its was with so many interruptions due to bad weather, the rounds coming to sudden halts and endless waiting. But the Spanish golfer touched down on Andalusian grounds with the good vibes rolling, and he was able to carry that out onto the course.
There were also moments of extreme doubt, in which all the hard work seemed as though it could go down the drain with the rest of the water from the storm...Gonzalo played the last ten holes today, Monday, of the third round (the tournament was concluded after 54 holes), and on the 11th hole, par 5, the third of the day, the ball veered off to the right on the first shot. After shooting a provisional shot and not finding the ball from the first one, he ended up making a painful double bogey, which seriously put his situation in jeopardy.
His reaction, however, was fast and effective: amazing shot on the 12th hole, par 3, and birdie with a putt from one and a half meters away. After that, on the final holes, Gonzalo demonstrated his deep knowledge of the game, and exuded that confidence that he had been building up throughout the past weeks in Europe, his new professional home.
With this result Gonzalo has gone from 125th place in the Race to Dubai to 104th place, thus maintaining the rights of the European Tour.
