At the first time, the Open de España was full. An overwhelming stream of expectation, palpable from early in the morning, filled the four sides of the National Center, a thrilling mixture of interest, curiosity, illusions and desires that made the public the first leader of the competition.
Never before in the history of a professional golf tournament held in our country had there been such a large number of people during the first day, thousands of fans eager to witness a spectacle that the players, generously, offered for their part to full hands.
The spectators who came to watch the day’s round of the Open de España found what they were looking for, establishing a vibrant connection that turned the sport of golf into a mass spectacle, claiming the space it truly deserves in our country on the basis of irrefutable data.
The torrent of enthusiasm was reflected in tees, fairways and greens delimited by a human cordon that cheered with pleasure each and every one of the actions of the real protagonists of a first round where the show came out in spurts.
It is true that Marc Warren grabbed most of the spotlight in the morning with a solid and brilliant performance summarized in 66 strokes, with five birdies in the last seven holes that catapulted him from the anonymity of the middle of the leaderboard to the top of the standings.
It is also true that in the afternoon, the Irishman Paul Dunne managed to repeat such an excellent performance, in more complicated weather conditions, to share the lead, in his case with a round reduced by a single bogey and embellished by an eagle on the last hole.
However, their respective outstanding performances were overshadowed by the presence of an ardent and passionate crowd for the Spanish players.
Jon Rahm and Rafael Cabrera-Bello, partners in a match that also shared the English Andrew Johnston, reigning champion, were surprised at nine o’clock in the morning by a flood of people who did not miss a single detail of their exciting actions.
The Canary Islander, solid with the driver and irons, but lacking success with the putt to complete his round with 73 strokes, gave the lead to Jon Rahm, who reissued one of those performances that has made him, by its machacona efficiency, one of the best players in the world at breakneck speed.
A first birdie on his fourth hole -he teed off on the 10th tee- and an untimely bogey on the par 3 17th gave way to a sensational eagle on the 18th hole that aroused all kinds of sensations.
The public, enthusiastic about the action, continued to accompany the Basque golfer with passionate loyalty in a second round in which he made three new birdies to place second and keep intact that brave statement of intent expressed before coming to the National Center: “I come to win”.
With less grandiloquence, apparently more timid but in practice just as effective, another Spaniard, Víctor Pastor, an amateur to boot, matched his idol Rahm’s performance with a stunning start, teeing off from the 10th tee to the 16th fairway before recovering wonderfully and scoring an eagle on his card.
A member of the team that won the gold medal at the last Absolute European Championship, the young Cordovan even came close to the possibility of taking the lead with 6 under par, although an unexpected bogey on the last hole cut short a glorious situation within the framework of a more than outstanding performance.
Pedro Oriol, Nacho Elvira, Sebastián García, Adrián Otaegui…, the list of Spaniards behind, with very good results in their opening round, is also part of the story of a historic day, where golf reclaimed its place as a mass spectacle, those thousands of fans who have every reason to keep coming to the National Center during the next three days to witness a fiery show that is palpable on all four sides.
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