...and that's after having rained on the first day over the Firestone CC and, in fact, the round was suspended for three hours due to a lightening storm. However, during this round that was pushed forward because of the storm, Gonzalo demonstrated that he had already forgotten and moved past the mishap from the first day.
He was on his way to finish Saturday's round at Bridgestone with the best score among all contestants, tying for a -5 with Adam Scott and Hideki Matsuyama, but the slip-up on the 9th, his last hole, cost him a double bogey that dropped his score to three strokes behind in the round. Even so, the output was fantastic and only six golfers ended up with better scores than the Madrid native, who finished the round with the same results as leader, Sergio García.
In Akron, Fernández-Castaño drew out his pistol ready for battle, and the 67 final shots turned his score into the best to date, taking into account his participation in the Bridgestone Invitational. The sun shone bright through the clouds over the demanding Ohio course.
Gonzalo moved up 15 places in general (60º) thanks to his incredible play right from the start. On the first four holes, he landed three birdies: 10th (placing the ball perfectly), 12th and 13th (with putts from 15 and 17 feet away, respectively). A declaration of his intentions, proving that what happened on Thursday was truly just that, a slip-up. On the 11th and the 15th, he let a few favorable options get away from three meters out. In any case, there were excellent vibes.
On the 3rd and the 7th, he scraped together a few more shots to put him at five less, except for the compromise of par on the 8th and on the last hole, a shame, headed straight for the bunker, he couldn't place the ball on the green in two shots and he missed a putt from two meters away for a bogey...In the final round, continuing to play like this, he could continue to move up in rank and gain momentum for the PGA Championship of next week.
