Mario Galiano has won the Gecko Tour held this week at Rio Real Golf Club and Atalaya Golf & Country Club, in the heart of the Andalusian Costa del Sol. Another huge winner for the list of winners, brighter every day of the best winter professional circuit in Europe.
Galiano is one of the most promising Spanish golfers and one of the best amateurs in the world, European champion and bronze medalist in the last World Championship. The young golfer born in El Tesorillo, very close to a majestic golf enclave as Sotogrande, won with a total score of 203 strokes, executing a superb final round.
Mario reached the last three holes tied with German professional Patrick Kopp, who submitted the best card of the day (65 strokes). “I knew I needed to make birdies if I wanted to win the tournament because I had seen the boards and everything was very tight. I stuck to the game plan I had laid out for myself, without forcing things too much. I left myself two two-meter birdie putts on 16 and 17 and I made them, thank goodness they went in because I had been missing all of them from that distance all day. When they had to fall, they fell, so I’m very happy,” he said after submitting his card.
Galiano won with two strokes ahead of Kopp. Extraordinary final round of the Teutonic golfer, another young value that is demonstrating in the Gecko the enormous future that lies ahead. His round was one to remember, with no less than nine birdies to his credit. He rightfully earned the title of champion among professionals, which will also allow him to climb positions on the Gecko Tour Order of Merit.
The Río Real and Atalaya Golf events, two courses that once again have been praised by all the players for their excellent preparation, have once again left us with the extraordinary performance of the girls. Noemí Jiménez, with a final round of 67 strokes, finished in fourth place, one stroke behind the third, the Finn Lauri Ruuska, and four strokes behind the winner. The Guadalmina golfer is proving to be a prodigy of consistency in this Gecko. She has played four rounds and in none of them she has dropped below fourth position. Very good performance of Natalia Escuriola, another young Spanish professional who, like Noemi, will play this year on the Ladies European Tour. The player from Castellón finished in the top ten, with two very good rounds of 69 strokes and a third of 74. As a curious fact: Escuriola and Galiano are a couple.
Galiano will make the jump to the professional world this year and his victory in the Gecko is a fantastic boost of confidence. “Today I played at a very good level and this victory shows me that I am in the right line of work. To say something, I would say that I missed more putts, but I’m very happy overall,” he said.
The cut of the tournament was established after the second day with a score of PAR, a good scale that reflects the good conditions in which the two courses have been. A total of 22 players made the cut.
The next appointment of the Gecko Tour will be next week, from February 2 to 4, at the two courses of Alcaidesa.
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