Gonzalo Fernández Castaño is up against his ninth tournament of the PGA Tour with the Honda Classic, on the Champion course of the PGA National (Palm Beach Garden, Florida), just over one hundred kilometers north of where he lives.
The Madrid native is coming off from making the cut last week in the Northern Trust, but it's no secret that it's time to churn out more than playing all four days. He has, perhaps, the most important factor in his favor, provided he keeps his nerves under control, confident in the progress he's been accomplishing. There are still many tournaments to go to turn a situation around that, not to say horrible, is still not sufficient enough in the arduous task of maintaining the right to play in the American tour.
The course this week carries the name of Jack Nicklaus and is famous for its 'Bear Trap', made up of the 15th, 16th and 17th holes, two par 3s and a par 4 where the water obstacle together with the wind are cause for an upset. The Spanish golfer handled this part of the course last year with a partial of +1 in all four rounds, a score that many will end up with today before leaving, even possibly the Number 1 of the world, Rory Mcilroy, who will make his debut in the US this week.
Gonzalo finished with his second best results of the season in this tournament last year (in 24º place), precisely on such a demanding course (the same as last week's, Riviera, on California soil).
He'll play tomorrow starting at 12:55 pm (Spanish time) together with Danny Lee and a good friend of his, Danish golfer Thomas Bjorn. He just needs that week in which everything falls into place in all aspects of the game. It never hurts to look for inspiration close to home...
