Hole 18 on Sunday. Or, hole 72 of the tournament, the Scandinavian Mixed. On the one hand, the Northern Irishman Jonathan Caldwell (-17) plays his second shot to the green from the rough, to the right of the fairway, and with an angle that is certainly not the best to attack that flag, but he hits a shot and is practically given a birdie that, in effect, it ends up converting. On the other hand, Adrian Otaegui (-16), who is a few games behind and already knows that a birdie would make him the winner of the tournament, plays the second shot from the most favorable side of the fairway, the left, after having impaled a tee shot ; He has about 70 meters to the flag, but the ball is a bit long and he will end up making three putts and bogey, after playing a brave and aggressive first putt, going over a meter and missing the return …
Caldwell hits the hit of his life to win the Scandinavian Mixed
This is how this game is. Nothing that we do not know, although it does not stop moving. The point is that Caldwell he has scored his first victory on the European circuit at the age of 37. And who knows if his best days as a professional will not come from now on, because to date he had never had full playing rights on this circuit (he has not even played fifty tournaments yet on the European Tour). Before reaching that hole 72, let’s say it all, Caldwell had probably been the best on the field (64-shot card, the best of the day), with a partial of eight less for the first fourteen holes. Let’s also say that Otaegui was not far behind, solid, confident, confident and, what a paradox, plugging in each and every one of the small commitments that always remain one dancing throughout a lap, those putts that go from the short meter to the meter and a half of distance… He was just going to miss the one that at least allowed him to go out to play a tiebreaker in search of his fourth triumph on the European circuit.
Jon Rahm comes out of isolation after two negative tests
The Basque is not a type given to the great fuss. Neither in triumph nor in defeat. So we weren’t going to see him pulling his hair out after the mistake. Much less after having closed an outstanding final round, once again showing that he is a player capable of showing his best version when the pressure tightens. The consolation prize does not seem like a small thing either: to begin with, the Spaniard leaves his year 2021 absolutely on track, in which he was having a hard time getting on top (after this second place he will be around the top 50 in the Race to Dubai); In addition, he is also going to get into the top 150 in the world and has already chained four consecutive years in which he has signed at least a second place.
Jiménez resists in head the attack of Fred Couples
In this novel appointment, with men and women competing for the same prize pool, the English Alice Hewson (-15) has kept the girls’ pavilion up there (third place in the final solo) and has even flirted in several moments of the return with the possibility of getting up to his eyebrows in the fight for the title. It was only her, it is true, because her partner in the penultimate match, the Swedish Caroline Hedwall (-8), she lost her footing very early, with three bogeys in the first four holes, and also we only found the German Olivia Cowan (-10) in the top ten of the tournament, aside from Hewson herself.
There will be time to analyze the hangover of the peculiar and interesting event. As a novelty and marketing product, it seems that there is no doubt in these times: overwhelming success. If we talk about pure and hard competition, the truth is that it is difficult to assimilate that women play for the same prize in a field almost nine hundred meters shorter, that is the truth. In the long run, it does not even benefit the girls that all of us (organizers, golf professionals, journalists, amateurs …) treat them this week with so much condescension, a rather crude attitude and that, if we really examine our conscience, expel a stink macho who backs down.
