Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño shot a 71 in the first round of the FedEx St. Jude Classic, PGA Tour tournament held at TPC Southwind course in Memphis. The Spanish golfer currently stands in 73rd place, with a total of one over par, just one shot away from the provisional cut.
It was a beginning round with more ups than downs and where Gonzalo probably deserved to end up with a better score, although these types of assessments are always somewhat subjective. The Madrid native played a more organized game from tee to green, without getting into too many complications, with the exception of the second shot off the 15th hole which landed in the lake and was penalized with a double bogey. He caught eight fairways and eleven greens and left a lot of good options for birdies, many from less than four and five meters away.
He was a bit more inconsistent on the putt. Quite possibly would have been the key to shaving off a few shots from his card. It’s true that he did shoot two good birdies right off the bat, on the 12th and 13th, both from around six meters out, but it’s also true that one birdie escaped out from under his fingertips from just a meter and a half away on the 16th and another for par from just a little over two hand lengths away on the 1st hole.
In any case, his final birdie on the 9th hole (he started on the 10th) speaks volumes. It’s another demonstration of how his capacity to continue to fight and the confidence in his game are intact, and today he will be out for blood in order to make the cut and to make his way as far toward the top of the tournament as possible. Gonzalo will go out to play starting at 3.20 pm, Spanish Peninsular time.
