Fátima Fernández came within a whisker of securing her second Symetra Tour victory, falling to American Casey Danielson on the second playoff hole of the Symetra Classic. Nevertheless, it was another great week for the Pro Spain Team golfer.
Fátima Fernández was looking for a victory to follow her win at the 2020 IOA Championship, and she came very close. She went into a playoff with Casey Danielson after finishing the 54 holes at -6, and there she relentlessly sought birdie on two occasions, but lacked the accuracy that her rival had on the second attempt.
How did she reach that heart-stopping playoff? The Spaniard did so with two remarkable first rounds of 70 and 67 strokes, and a third round of 73 that left her at -6 overall. Her birdie on the 17th was particularly noteworthy, as it recovered from three bogeys between the 10th and 13th holes. Nuria Iturrioz, fourteenth at -1, also had a good week in North Carolina.
One telling statistic: Fátima Fernández has racked up five Top 10 finishes in her six appearances on the Symetra Tour in 2021. In other words, she's become a familiar face on the decisive Sundays. A good sign.
Rafael Cabrera's lackluster finish to close out a remarkable week
Rafael Cabrera has finished one of his best weeks in the United States in recent times at the prestigious AT&T Byron Nelson, where he placed 21st with a total of -15. This good result, however, may feel like a missed opportunity, given that the Canary Islander was ninth at the start of the final round. A final round of 72 strokes, his worst of the tournament, dropped him out of the top 10.
Jon Rahm finished in 34th place with -13, while Sergio Garcia, a two-time winner of the tournament (2004 and 2016), missed the cut after an unfortunate second round. The victory went to KH Lee (-25).
Miguel Ángel Jiménez also had a chance of winning the Mitsubishi Electric Classic, a Champions Tour event he won in 2014, but the final round didn't go as the Andalusian golfer had hoped. A 75 in this last round dropped him to fifteenth place with a total of -3.
Good week for Harang Lee at the premiere of LET
This week saw the long-awaited start of the Ladies European Tour with the Investec South African Women's Open in South Africa. The large Spanish contingent made headlines throughout the week thanks to the performances of Elia Folch, Silvia Bañón, and María Hernández. However, the best of the Spanish players was Harang Lee, who finished sixteenth with a score of +11.
The victory went to veteran local golfer Lee-Anne Pace (+2).
Another Pro Spain player who had an interesting Sunday was Mario Galiano. The Andalusian, brilliant in the first two rounds of the Range Servant Challenge in Sweden – the second stop on the European Tour after South Africa – with rounds of 68 and 66 strokes, finished 23rd with -8. A 75 in the third round prevented him from achieving an even better result.
No luck at The Belfry
From Sweden to England, where the European Tour, after concluding its Canary Islands swing, held the Betfred British Masters on the iconic Belfry course. There, the large Spanish contingent had no chance of success, having to settle for a shared 40th place finish by Adrián Otaegui and Alejandro Cañizares.
WEEK OF MAY 10-16, 2021
European Tour
Betfred British Masters (May 12-15)
The Belfry (Sutton Coldfield, England)
PGA Tour
AT&T Byron Nelson (May 13-16)
TPC Craig Ranch (McKinney, TX, USA)
Ladies European Tour
Investec South African Women's Open (May 13-16)
Westlake Golf Club (South Africa)
Challenge Tour
Range Servant Challenge (May 13-16)
Hinton Golf Club (Malmö, Sweden)
Champions Tour
Mitsubishi Electric Classic (May 14-16)
TPC Sugarloaf (Duluth, GA, USA)
Symetra Tour
Symetra Classic (May 14-16)
River Run Country Club (Davidson, NC, USA)
