Marcos Pastor from Cordoba has once again dominated Playa Serena and is now just one stroke behind the leaders, Finland's Alajarvi Eemil and Ireland's Paul McBride, on the first day of the Alps de Roquetas de Mar.
Pastor, who still holds the course record he achieved in 2013 with 64 strokes in an Alps Tour tournament, has presented a clean scorecard with four birdies for a total of 4 under par.
“I’ve started very well
– Pastor assures –,
I hit it very accurately off the tee; my 3-wood, which I used several times, performed very well. On the 1st, I left it almost a birdie, on the 2nd I had a bad tee shot, but a good approach and putt saved me from par, and from then on it went quite well. It was a great day, especially mentally. I've been working on my anxiety for quite some time, and I'm succeeding. Three of the birdies came on the first nine holes, which seemed more manageable; on the back nine, I only managed one birdie. They were more complicated; there are two holes that we used to play as par 5s and are now par 4s, and they were quite difficult, but even though I'm not at my technical best, I was able to see what I needed to do at each moment.
The top spot is shared by Finland's Alarjavi and Ireland's McBride with 5 under par.
The Finn, who has made 7 birdies and two bogeys, says he has felt “very comfortable on the course, which is in very good condition. Last year I played the Challenge here and I had a tough time on the greens, but now they are perfect.”.
McBride, who like his co-leader has carded 7 birdies and 2 bogeys, says, “I hit it really well off the tee, which is key on this course, which is longer than usual. It's been a great day of golf, but we'll see how we fare if, as it looks like, the wind starts to pick up.”.
The winner of the Giorgio Bordoni Memorial and current number 6 in the ranking, the Italian Mattia Comotti, is tied with the Cordoban in third position, also shared with the American Brandon Kewalramani and the British Harry Goddard, all of them with 4 under par, one stroke less than Sigot López, tied in 7th position.
Tomorrow, Thursday, at the end of the day, a cut will be made in the classification, which will pass to the first 40 classified and tied, who will be the ones who will compete in the final day on Friday, in which the winner of the first edition of the Alps of Roquetas de Mar will be decided.
The Alps de Roquetas de Mar tournament is the result of a collaboration between the Royal Spanish Golf Federation and the Royal Andalusian Golf Federation, with the support of the Roquetas de Mar City Council, the Andalusian Regional Government, the Higher Sports Council, the Kyocera Alps Tour, and the organization by JGolf.
SOURCE: Tournament organizers.
