Gonzalo Fernández Castaño began the second round of the Travelers Championship with a jolt. The playing conditions weren’t the best, far from it, but the Spanish golfer found a way to land birdies and to climb up in the rankings. He made it to four under par for the day, -6 total, coming up up face to face with the leaders, third place in the tournament.
However, in the midst of Gonzalo’s magnificent ascent, everything suddenly went south. He made a bogey on the 5th hole (he started on the 10th), another on the 7th and ended the round with a triple bogey, bad luck in full force for the definitive 9th hole. The Madrid native miscalculated off the tee and went to the right, and not only did he have to drop, but also had to hit it to the fairway. His fourth shot didn’t catch the green, approach and two putts. Everything that could have gone wrong, went even worse.
When the stars are aligned against you there’s little you can do, other than break out the umbrella and to continue fighting amidst the storm, which is what Gonzalo has been doing all along. He’s playing much better, more consistent, making more birdies and making his way toward the top of the rankings much more frequently, but he needs a stroke of luck and good fortune, a push, that the coin lands heads up for once to finish with an outstanding score in a tournament and to be able to breathe easy.
Gonzalo ended up at just one place and two shots away from making the cut on TPC River Highlands course in Connecticut. It’s time to put the pressure on once again and to focus on next week now: the Greenbrier Classic.
