Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño (-2) finished with a 68 in the first round of The Greenbrier Classic, a stop on the PGA Tour that began today at the Old White TPC course in West Virginia.
It's a good start, below par, situated in the top half of the rankings, and with positive conclusions to walk away with; however, he also had a few mishaps. Gonzalo's opening was amazing. He started off with two birdies on the first two holes and saved an incredible par on the third hole. From that moment on, his game was organized and constant, catching almost all the greens and many fairways. He also set himself up for good options for birdies, like on the 6th, but he also managed to land two good ones on the 9th and the 11th.
He was on a role, which promptly came to a halt on the 13th, the most difficult hole by far on the hundred-year-old White Sulphur Springs course. Gonzalo made an excellent drive and caught the green on the 2nd, however, he ended up with a bogey as a result of a painful 3 putt. The turning of the tables did some damage, logically, but it didn't effect the Spaniard's game. He continued to catch fairways and greens until the 16th. That's when he made the second bogey of the day after a bad shot off the tee. Missing two greens and two bogeys is, without a doubt, too harsh of a punishment for Gonzalo. The positive lesson learned is that he's playing well, the irons are on point and his putt, except for the 3 putt on the 13th, was more than decent. The Madrid native is on a good path. In fact, he's accumulated four rounds under 70 of the last five, a sign of consistency and a solid game. He'll play in the afternoon session tomorrow.
