Jordi García del Moral (-13) won the penultimate round of the Gecko Tour season after an extraordinary final battle against Noemí Jiménez. High school shots and exchange of birdies in the purest style of the legendary fights between Joe Frazier and Mohammed Ali.
The last day of the tournament played in Guadalmina has been a song to golf, and not only for the quality of the two contenders, but for the magnificent atmosphere that has led the game from hole 1 to 18. Noemi Jimenez is a member of this Malaga course and the people of the club has turned into a day of golf to remember. Many fans have been accompanying the duel (they played together in the star match) and vibrating with each stroke. “It has been a very nice day of golf, with a tremendous finish. I played very well, but so did Noemi and from the 13th hole it was beautiful. I started the day with a three-putt on the 5th and a toad on the 6th that cost me two bogeys. However, I knew I was playing well and I just took it easy and went on with my game. I hit very good shots, just like on Tuesday and Wednesday, yesterday in fact if the putts came in I would have made a very low round”, assures García del Moral.
The climax came on the 17th hole, par 5. Both hit a great drive, although they were very close to out of bounds on this hole which is not very long, but with a tube shape that makes it very difficult to catch the fairway. Noemi first hit a splendid 3-wood to eight meters for eagle, while Jordi responded with a 5-iron shot to two and a half meters. He holed the putt and she had to settle for a birdie.
The golfer from Malaga had the opportunity to become the first player to win an event in the history of the Gecko. Finally she was not able to achieve it, but no buts can be put to her, on the contrary, we must give all the credit to Jordi García del Moral, who has played a sensational game, showing that he is one of the fittest golfers in Spain at the moment. “I am very happy with the changes I have introduced in my swing with the help of my coach, José Carlos Gutiérrez, it is working very well and I am also noticing a lot the physical preparation I am carrying out with Fran and Quique, the trainers of Almenara, who are also training Alejandro Cañizares and Álvaro Quirós”, Jordi assures.
Rocco Sanjust, the tournament leader after the first two rounds, lost ground very soon due to a double bogey on hole 2. Practically since then everything has been reduced to a dizzying hand to hand between Jordi and Noemi. Both reached the 12th hole tied at eight under par, making for a marvelous final stretch of the championship. García del Moral birdied the 13th, answered by another from Jiménez on the 14th, both birdied the 15th and the tie-breaker was not broken until the 17th hole, where Jordi signed an eagle, while Noemí birdied. An explosion of golf. The Castellón golfer would finish off the exhibition with another birdie on the 18th hole (five less in the last six holes), achieving a final advantage of two strokes over Noemí.
Thus, García del Moral has won with a final cumulative score after 54 holes of 203 strokes, two less than Noemí Jiménez and four less than the Andalusian Juan Carlos Osorio, the German Tim Fleer, the Finnish Juhana Kukkonen, the Asturian Alfred García Heredia and the Italian Rocco Sanjust. It is the first victory of the season at the Gecko for last year’s circuit winner.
As for the Gecko Order of Merit, Marcos Pastor has slightly increased his lead over Manuel Quirós, although not everything has been decided yet, far from it. The grand finale of the circuit, which will be played next week (21st and 22nd) at La Cañada, will dictate the verdict.
The players have once again highlighted the splendid level of preparation of the two Guadalmina courses (South and North) that hosted the tournament. The conditions were perfect and there was a beautiful festival of birdies, with numerous rounds under 70 strokes. “Guadalmina is a great course, especially the South course. It has been a very nice day”, Jordi concluded.
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