Adri Arnaus (-11) chased him. He left on Sunday with the idea of reaching St Andrews, to get into the Open Championship, to finish the season among the 30 best in the Race to Dubai. He knew he needed a great final sprint, a powerful kidney shot… and he produced it. He delivered a 66-stroke card on the last round of the DP World Tour Championship and stood at the gates of St Andrews, just a mile from the Old Course.
A solo seventh place might have been enough to achieve the goal, but he was missing a couple of birdies. A shame He fought it very well, relying on a great short game on his first holes. His first three birdies came from outside. His seventh birdie of the day came on the 13th hole and with it the calculators began to smoke. The conquest of the Open was possible …
I needed one last pedal stroke, a final rebound to cement an extraordinary comeback, but it didn’t come. He finished with five consecutive pairs, birdieying all but the 18th hole. There, on his final hole, Arnaus went all out. He untied the driver from the tee with the intention of leaving a good option for eagle. He hit very long, but was not able to avoid one of the treacherous meanders that the stream makes that splits the street in two. He went to the water and from there he produced a valuable pair by making a putt of almost three meters.
The Arnaus on Friday, Saturday and Sunday has been an Open Championship Arnaus. Too bad that initial round of 75 shots that made things very uphill for him. The good thing is that he will still have many opportunities to reach the Open. He has only lost the first ticket, but Arnaus is a player who has everything to get to St Andrews in one of the ways, either by the Race to Dubai in 2022, qualifying in some of the tournaments that give place to the Open or Why not, by way of the top 50 in the world.
What the golfer has achieved from Moià, and we must not detract from it, it is to improve its final position in the Race to Dubai. Every year it has been growing. Little by little, it is true, but always looking a little more from above. In 2019 he was 41st, in 2020 he finished 39th and in 2021 he has been 33rd.
Sergio García signs a great round against style
Sergio garcia (-9) fought the final round against style. It was the antithesis of the whole week. A bad day from tee to green countered with a short game and very fine putting allowed him to deliver a 68-stroke card. Practically, he only made a couple of given pairs, the rest had to be fought in one way or another, including the one on the 18th hole after going to the teeing ground. A good farewell and, above all, an interesting moral. If Sergio, in his days stuck from tee to green, could always carry out laps of this caliber, let no one doubt that in 2022 we will see him again fighting for many victories.
Rafa Cabrera Bello left the Open in the first 13 holes
Rafa Cabrera Bello (-4) was also fighting to get into the Open Championship, in that top 30 of the Race to Dubai that gives access to the fourth Big of the season, but a bad final lap left him far behind. He made 73 strokes and ended up losing three places in the Race to Dubai. He needed to win just one this week, but things haven’t worked out for him. His Achilles heel has been the first 13 holes, where he has barely been able to balance par. In the last five holes, on the other hand, his accumulated has been four under par. In any case, Rafa ends a season where his victory at the Acciona Open in Spain will always shine with its own light. Access to St Andrews will have to be achieved with your pick and shovel. Rare it will be that it does not obtain it.
