The wind was the real enemy to beat on the opening day of the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters, with gusts of up to 50 kilometers per hour that put the players on the ropes, especially those on the afternoon shift. In this difficult first day, Adrian Otaegui stood out with a round of 66 strokes that left him two strokes behind the leader, the Englishman James Morrison (-8), and one behind the German Nick Bachem (-7). The Basque player could not have made a better start to his title defense, especially on a very changeable day.
“I was able to adapt well. The wind in the second round was quite gusty and we had some doubts between the poles, but we got it right, I’m very happy. Yesterday we did a very good job preparing the strategies and we managed the wind and flags very well,” he explained at the end of the round.Otaegui also highlighted the magnificent state of the Real Club de Golf Sotogrande.
“It’s perfect. I thought earlier in the week that the greens were a little soft, but if they weren’t some flags would be unplayable in this wind. The grass is perfect on fairways, rough and greens, so a tenner for the greenkeeping team,” he added.The best round of the day was that of James Morrison who, favored by playing in the morning, signed a creditable card of 64 strokes (-8).
“We were lucky to get an early start and we had more holes with no wind than we expected. We had to make the most of the round while it was sunny and I managed to do that,” said the Englishman.Morrison has two wins on the DP World Tour, including the 2015 Spanish Open. “Spain has treated me very, very well these past 14 years. It drinks and eats great, especially the ham. I love coming here, it goes through my eyes. Also, the courses are not as long as the ones we play on the circuit, they are more like strategy courses,” Morrison indicated.
The American Wyndham Clark, world number ten and debutant on Spanish soil, started the tournament with a creditable round of 70 (-2) in Sotogrande.Among the players who finished under par were Adri Arnaus (-3), Jorge Campillo (-1) and Rafa Cabrera Bello (-1), the latter two more than satisfied with a 71 in the hellish afternoon round.
The first round was suspended at 19:21 due to lack of light and play will resume on Friday 20 at 9:10 for the groups that did not finish their round. The tee times for the second round will be maintained and players will start from 8:40 for holes 1 and 10.
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INSIDE THE ROPES
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Wind and greens, a challenge for Wyndham
Clark Wyndham Clark, champion of the U.S. Open signed a more than decent round but had to deal with some treacherous gusts of wind that affected not very long shots with his wedges. In addition, the American is used to faster greens, although he understood that it would have been reckless to force the machine with so much wind.”Today the greens were slower than the previous days and all the players in my group were not short with the putts. Still, and I understand, with the wind it could have been crazy [si llegan a estar más rápidos]”, explained at the end of the round.
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Campillo and Cabrera Bello, heroes under par in the afternoon session
It has been a complicated day, especially in the afternoon, but it is surprising (especially to laymen and amateurs) the spirit with which golfers face these difficulties. You can tell they are used to dealing with these storms.”It has been on the limit, but I recognize that I have enjoyed playing. It is true that the last two or three holes were very hard, but it was worse in Scotland where it was like this, but with rain,” said Jorge Campillo.Along the same lines was his partner in today’s match, Rafa Cabrera, who said that “the Tour has done very well by not suspending, because you could play perfectly well as the ball has barely moved a little on occasion. It is true that we had a bad round and that the last two holes were almost impossible, but many times we have played with this same wind”.
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Real Club de Golf Sotogrande, a historic course with a spectacular list of winners
Although the Real Club de Golf Sotogrande is premiering as the venue of the DP World Tour, the club hosts the prestigious Sotogrande Cup in whose list of winners include players such as Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry or Padraig Harrington.Among the winners of this tournament who are present at the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters are Francesco Molinari, Julien Brun, Nino Bertasio, Marcel Siem, Guido Migliozzi, Todd Clements and Spanish amateur Jaime Montojo.
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