Gonzalo Fernández Castaño worked hard in the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He caught less than half the fairways and just nine greens, from which he was fighting to recover the entire round and to stay alive in the tournament. It was just the lackluster finale that overshadowed a magnificent battle.
Gonzalo finished with 75 shots, four over par, with six bogeys and two birdies. He started recovering on the 1st hole with an incredible save from the bunker. He made another brilliant recovery on the 3rd, but on the 5th, the first bogey happened. This time he wasn't able to recover. On the 6th, the first par 5 of the Bay Hill course, he was punished with a triple putt and a bogey. He made another bogey on the 10th and that's when he reacted.
The Madrid native landed two almost consecutive birdies on the 11th and the 13th, with two really nice putts, one from eleven meters out and another from just shy of four meters away. He managed to even out the fight, but an ending of three consecutive bogeys on the 15th, 16th and 17th, the first after having missed a putt for par from one and a half meters away and the second after hitting the ball into the water, put a damper on his card.
Fernández-Castaño will have to tough it out this Friday to make the cut at Bay Hill. He'll start at 5:20 pm, Spanish Peninsular time, on the 10th tee.
