Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño returns to the scene of the crime. We're talking about Royal Liverpool, Hoylake, one of the courses in the rotation of the Open Championship, where this year's edition will commence on Thursday. It's home to where Gonzalo played his first major, and logically, his first British Open.
It still brings back good memories, even though eight years have gone by already. “It was something really special. On top of that, although in the moment I didn't know it, it coincided with Severiano Ballesteros' last British Open, so the memory is even fonder” he remarked.
However, if he had to stick with just one image of his big debut, Gonzalo has it very clear. “It's time to go back to the tee on hole one on Thursday. I've never been more nervous on a golf course. I was waiting there, and suddenly Tom Watson appeared from out of the tunnel. The applause and level of admiration was surreal, it gave me goosebumps. And to top it off, we played with Retief Goosen, who was then one of the best players then, with two US Open Championships under his belt. In that moment, I was shaking all over and I all could think of was hitting the ball and at least getting past the tee”, the Madrid native assures with a smile. It turns out that things went pretty alright for the Spanish golfer that week.
On Friday, the day of the cut, he was in the top ten and he finished among the fifty best players of the tournament. For being a novice, it wasn't too bad at all. “The experience of playing with Watson was amazing. He was really nice, talkative and very polite with me. On the course, he was outstanding, although it was apparent that the rounds were a bit long for him in the end. Don't forget that during that British Open, it was unbearingly hot”, he added. And it's with that fond memory that Gonzalo goes into the Open Championship this week, on the prowl and hungry for good results that will help him regain complete confidence in his game again. Tomorrow, Thursday, he'll play starting at 15:16, Spanish time, together with Billy Horschel and Russell Henley.
