On a stage reserved for world-class winners and in front of Jon Rahm, an elite rival carried away by the large crowd gathered at the Real Club Valderrama, Christiaan Bezuindehout has made his debut on the European Tour by winning the fifth edition of the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters, an event played at the Real Club Valderrama. The South African showed talent and a remarkable ability to recover by overcoming the many difficulties he encountered throughout the day and overcoming his rivals in a classification tinged with the red and yellow of the Spanish flag.
Bezuindehout did not shy away from the head-to-head at any time, even though his first eleven holes were a real roller coaster. After starting with two consecutive birdies, the Johannesburg player faltered when he made four mistakes in five holes and left the door open to his rivals. However, a meritorious putt for par on the eighth hole served as a turning point for the return, and three birdies from that point left the tournament very much in the balance. In the end, he was six strokes ahead of his closest rivals, an eloquent and well-managed advantage that served to confirm with a triumph the qualities that this young South African star had been pointing out in the last two years.
“It’s been a long day. I pinched in the middle of the round with three bogeys in a row and I thought ‘I’m not going to let it slip away.’ My caddie kept me in the present and that was critical. The turning point was saving the par on the 8th because I refocused,” recapped the champion, who had the support of Zack Rasego, his caddie, and his family, but also the public who came to enjoy his duel with Jon Rahm. “My family has taught me to be humble in my career, they have supported me in everything and I’m here thanks to them, that’s why it’s such a special moment. I like to play with a big crowd, and this week the crowd has been fantastic with me.
Behind, the most prominent Spaniards battled against Valderrama and came out of the trance well, but the strength of Bezuindehout did not leave them much room for maneuver. The first to place a good reference on the scoreboard was Alvaro Quiros, who took revenge for the Saturday round with a spectacular 66 (with eight birdies, an impressive figure in the Real Club Valderrama), the best result of the day. The player from Guadiaro thus culminated an Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters that serves as a confirmation in a course he knows well but had not dominated in competition so far. Quirós, in addition, signed a second place after the third place achieved in the BMW International Open and the good performances in the previous dates of the calendar, which makes it clear that this recent version of Álvaro Quirós is increasingly closer to the one that dazzled half the world not so long ago.
“Five under par is the best result I have achieved here in competition, nobody likes to finish with bogey on 18, but it is a great result,” summed up the Guadiaro. “For most of my career I have not had in mind to hold the card. Last year I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel and it worried me quite a bit, even more than the year I lost it. This year I was not so far away from making few. Putting was the unfinished business, although my goal was to keep the card. If it is guaranteed, the next step would be to get into the first play-offs of the circuit”.
Adri Arnaus was also another of those who quickly forgot the Saturday’s setback and added a great 69 to the scoreboard with a great reaction in the second half of the San Roque course, a tricky section, and closed the tournament with the same result as Álvaro Quirós and the Frenchman Mike Lorenzo Vera, a -4 in the cumulative that shows that Arnaus learns quickly and adapts to all types of courses.
The Catalan’s runner-up finish also makes him the second Spaniard to enter the Open Championship through an international qualifying event, after Rafa Cabrera Bello did so at the 2015 Open de France. The other two places available, for the winner, Christiaan Bezuindehout, and Mike Lorenzo Vera (since the tie-breaker criterion was the position in the world ranking, and the Frenchman is ahead of Quirós and Eduardo de la Riva).
De la Riva topped off a spectacular tournament with a second place that allows him to access the Irish Open and guide a season that began without a full card on the European Tour. A stellar performance in a course that apparently suits his qualities, but to which he had not made the most of so far.
“I had a thorn in my side with Valderrama. I had passed the cut most of the times, but I had not done well. When I had the least expectations, because of the way I’ve been playing the last year, I finally got a good result,” said De la Riva. “I have been very well accompanied by my family and friends and I have let the week flow, little by little I have been improving and today I played very good golf. Not making bogeys on the last day with such tough greens and at Valderrama is something to be very happy about”.
Jon Rahm also extracted positive readings of this Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters (it is difficult not to do so from a second place in Valderrama) and also congratulated Christiaan Bezuindehout for his impressive victory. Rahm fought until the last moment, although he could not beat the Cadiz course in the final commitment.
“I’m very happy, I have not had my best day, but I have been second tied with great Spanish players,” explained Rahm who also took the opportunity to contextualize the defeat. “That moment he had on the 18th with his family, being able to hug my mom … are memories. Seeing the happiness of the family, what he has achieved, how he has played, you realize that there is much more than golf in this life. There are much more serious problems than making a bogey or missing a putt”.
The host of the tournament and defending champion, Sergio Garcia, did not give up either and continued with the trend of the previous days, with an exquisite game from tee to green and uneven fortune on the manicured surfaces of the Real Club Valderrama. Even so, this course once again served as a balm for Garcia, who faces the upcoming dates after having chained four days of almost impeccable play and having added his fourteenth top ten in fifteen tournaments in his favorite course.
“It has been a very positive week for how I have felt. It’s the best time I’ve hit the ball in the last year and the best I’ve felt. I’m very proud.
A great closing for this Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters, which has received more than 40,000 spectators and has become a great family party. The complementary activities and concerts in the commercial area have served as the icing on the cake for the golf competition in an edition marked by the incorporation of Estrella Damm as the main sponsor and the continued support of the Junta de Andalucía.
The Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters – Sergio García Foundation, a European Tour tournament valid for the Race to Dubai and held thanks to the essential collaboration of the Real Club Valderrama, is sponsored by Estrella Damm and the Consejería de Turismo, Regeneración, Justicia y Administración Local de la Junta de Andalucía, in addition to being co-financed with European funds. The tournament is also supported by the Diputación de Cádiz, Dubai Duty Free, Rolex, Exterior Plus, La Reserva Club de Sotogrande, Santander Private Banking and Shell. Callaway, Coca-Cola, Enterprise, Grupo Raga, ISDIN, Korporate Technologies Group, Marca, Maui Jim, Hospital QuirónSalud Campo de Gibraltar, the Royal Andalusian Golf Federation and Volvo are official suppliers. Also collaborating are 5J, Gadira, Grupo Joly and Varma.
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