Jordi García Pinto has achieved the first Spanish victory of the year in the Challenge Tour by winning The Barclays Kenya Open, a tournament played at the Karen CC course (Nairobi, Kenya) and resolved with a great deal of emotion. The member of the 2013 Pro Spain Team Program has obtained his first great victory as a professional after a vibrant duel with another young player of great projection, Tim Sluiter. Jordi García Pinto’s cards of 69, 66, 68 and 69 strokes for a total of 272 (-12), rivaled those of the Dutch golfer, who finished with just one more shot.
The Catalan player got the victory on track with a great eagle on the 15th hole, but two bogeys on the 16th and 17th opened the door to a possible play off. In the end, a par on the 18th was enough to get a much-desired victory.
Also noteworthy was the role of three other representatives of the 2013 Pro Spain Team Program, Sebastián García, Adrián Otaegui and Pedro Oriol, who finished in the Top 20 in this second round of the Challenge Tour.
Beatriz Recari and Carlota Ciganda, among the best
On the other hand, Beatriz Recari and Carlota Ciganda from Navarre have qualified among the top six at the Australian Open, the most important women’s event of the year so far. At the Royal Canberra GC course (Canberra, Australia), the two Spaniards only saw their rounds improved by Asian players and the surprising Australian Lydia Ko.
Beatriz Recari added her second consecutive Top 10 with rounds of 68, 69, 71 and 71 strokes to finish fourth with -13 total, while Carlota Ciganda, in her second event of the year, was sixth with -12 (71, 70, 69 and 70). The victory went to South Korea’s Jiyai Shin, who had a tight duel with Lydia Ko, who at 15 years of age continues to make history.
Jorge Campillo lost his chances in the final round.
Jorge Campillo also had a chance to win, in his case in the African Open, a European Tour event held at the East London GC course (Eastern Cape, South Africa).
After a phenomenal 63 (-9) in his third round, the player from Extremadura was in a position to achieve his first victory in the Tour, but the final 18 holes, full of tension and equality, gave him a 74 (+2) that took him out of the fight for the victory. In the end, Jorge Campillo was 20th with 280 strokes (-8), signing an outstanding performance and taking another step forward in his development as a player.
The victory went to Darren Fichardt (-16), the fourth South African to win in eight events on the 2013 calendar.
Samuel del Val, one step away from the PGA Latinoamericano
The three Spaniards present in the second sector of the Qualifying School for the Latin American PGA -Carlos Balmaseda, Santiago Seijo and Samuel del Val- have not been able to reach one of the 20 cards at stake to play the circuit this year, although the last one was just one stroke away. The event was played at Sun N Lake Golf Club (Sebring, Florida, USA).
In the first sector of the school, held in Peru, Jacobo Pastor from Madrid, still an amateur player, and Manuel Quiros from Malaga were two of the 20 lucky players. And on this occasion Samuel del Val has been very close to the same luck, but a single extra shot has prevented him from doing so. He finished with a total of 290 strokes -hit by a 76 in his second round-, while the winner, the American Jhared Hack, finished with 276.
Carlos Balmaseda (299) and Santiago Seijo (301) had no options in the last rounds in an event in which the level was very high.
Sergio García, thirteenth in the Northern Trust Open
In addition, Sergio Garcia finished thirteenth,six strokes behind the champion, American Jhon Merrick, in the Northern Trust Open corresponding to the American Tour, which was held at the Riviera Country Club in California. The Spaniard started in style, with a 65-stroke card that immediately put him among the best.
Second at the end of the first round, a second round of 73 strokes pushed him back in the standings before he climbed back into the Top 10 on the third day thanks to a card of 69 strokes. With 18 holes to go, Sergio Garcia was in ninth place.
Garcia submitted a final card of 72 strokes -five under par- and a total of 279. Three bogeys on holes 4, 5 and 14 caused him to lose four positions compared to the previous day.
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