Marcos Pastor has shown at the Miguel Angel Jimenez Golf Academy why he is one of the best players in Spain from 120 meters down. His two consecutive titles as Spanish Pitch & Putt champion in 2010 and 2011 were not the result of a coincidence, far from it, and this week he has shown it again with an overwhelming victory in the Gecko Tour tournament sponsored by Reale Seguros.
The golfer from Cordoba has swept the sixteenth round of the season with a cumulative score of 153 strokes. Pastor has won emphatically, without fissures, practically turning his last nine holes into a triumphant walk around the Torremolinos course. His lead of seven strokes over the second classified, Juan Carlos Osorio, and nine over the third, James Dick, says it all.
Pastor was the great favorite to win before the start of the tournament and has endorsed it in a spectacular way. His bogey-free round of six under par on the second day was the key to take the lead in the standings and play even more relaxed on the last day. Today he started with a five-stroke lead over the second place and ended up winning by seven strokes. Uncontestable. He even allowed himself the luxury of finishing on a high note, with a birdie on the 18th hole. Yesterday, when I finished the second round, I planned to start the third round strong and it worked out well. On the front nine I had four birdies and on the back nine I shot a lot to the center of the green”, explains the winner.
Marcos came to golf through pitch & putt, a discipline in which he became the best in Spain and one of the best in the world. Pitch & Putt is a form of golf, but on a short course, on par 3 holes. This is Miguel Angel Jimenez’s course, a flirtatious layout, with a great design, fun and with nine par threes. Despite not having the dimensions of one of the usual courses where the Gecko is played, the Jimenez School has put the players in a lot of trouble. In fact, apart from Pastor, who played in another category this week, only Juan Carlos Osorio has managed to go under par. “I consider myself very good from 120 meters down and the fact that I have played pitch & putt helps in a tournament like this. Since it plays very fast and you have very short shots, it’s very easy to get into anxiety and rush to make birdies and it’s very easy to get into trouble. You have to be more patient even than on a long course, play more safely,” said the eldest of the Pastor saga.
The tournament was played under a special format, pro-am during the first day and without a cut. The players played two rounds of nine holes each day and there were two holes-in-one, the first by Gabriel Cañizares on Sunday and the second today, in the hands of Englishman John Milne.
Marcos Pastor, in addition to pocketing a juicy check of 3,000 euros as winner of the tournament, has returned to the first position in the order of merit of the Gecko Tour, ousting Manuel Quirós from the throne. There are two events left to finish the season and an extraordinary fight is expected between the two. “My goal is to win the Gecko Tour. I have been many weeks in first position and I would like to finish first, although my goal after that is going to be not to play so much and to prepare myself better to be more prepared for the big challenges, especially for the European Tour School. I had planned to play the Alps Tour, but in the end I changed my mind. I prefer to play less and prepare better to feel stronger and more comfortable on the big tours. I know that as soon as I am confident and comfortable on a circuit I do well to be with the best and that is the goal,” he says.
The next event will be held in Guadalmina, from March 15 to 17. The day before the tournament an attractive pro-am will be played.
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