The Colombian Nicolás Echavarría is ready to face his second season on the PGA Tour, a circuit full of changes and marked by the schism that meant the departure of many of its figures, including his compatriot Juan Sebastian Muñoz.
Very little time passed since his debut on the circuit for the Antioquian to write his name on the list of players who have won at least one tournament on this circuit.
He did it on March 5, when he was crowned champion of the Puerto Rico Open.
To give you an idea of how long it took to win, Echavarría’s first victory came four and a half months after his PGA Tour debut. Camilo Villegas, the most successful player in Colombian history, took almost three years, and Muñoz even lost the card and then recovered it before winning his first title: two and a half years passed.
However, after his first title, Echavarría could not stabilize his performance: he played 15 tournaments and was only able to make the cut in two. That left him out of the FedEx Cup playoffs.
This week, Echavarría returned to the course where he debuted on the circuit, the Jackson Country Club (Mississippi) to play the Fortinet Championship, the first in a series of tournaments that, in practice, are an extension of the 2022 season. 2. 3.
This competition is the first of seven in the so-called Fall Series, in which players who were outside the top 50 of the season will be able to improve their status. Echavarría is in position 107.
“I feel good. The situation is really different, compared to what I experienced last year when I debuted there. I already know the court, I was working with my coach, Hernán Rey, and I think my game is good to fight for more events, manage to overcome more cuts and move up both in the world ranking and in the FedEx,” said Echavarría in a statement from press.
In an interview with EL TIEMPO, the Antioqueño spoke about his present and his future, taking stock of his first year on the circuit.
What feelings did your first season on the PGA Tour leave you?
A little bit of ups and downs. Things could have been a little better, I would have liked to finish the season a little better. There are a couple of things with the game that didn’t let me play well the first few days, but in short it was a year of experience that allowed me to get to know the PGA Tour. It was won, so we have two more years. This season I would think it will be more even, with fewer missed cuts. But all in all, it was a good year: if you had told me a year ago that I was going to be on the PGA Tour and that I was going to win a tournament, I would have taken it without a doubt. I think it is a positive year.
The victory gave him peace of mind to play and not think about retaining the card.
Thanks to this victory I was able to compete in my first Major and qualify for another. They are experiences that remain, we are improving not only on the field, but also off the field. Having a work team that is so important for a golfer, it takes so many years of career. The balance was a lot of learning, he would say.
What happened at the end of the season, which was so difficult due to the number of missed cuts?
I think I was kind of cold with the putting, which had been my strongest part last year. At the beginning of the year he was also potting well. It was something a little technical and a little mental that the putting did not accompany us in the end. It was difficult to start the tournaments well, instead of starting with a couple of birdies, a bogey would come later that left you a little bored and unable to gain confidence, because you were hitting the ball well. The stats off the tee and with the irons were good all year. I couldn’t putt well, but there are little things that happen, the ball doesn’t want to go into the hole, and that’s why you have to have a little patience. By not always playing with all the parts of the game at 100, one can play well, one can have good rounds, good tournaments. You have to learn to turn the page and learn to get out of the slumps.
What was the greatest lesson of the first year?
I think they are those emotional peaks that you have after winning or having good tournaments. These players who have been here for so many years know that after a very good week they have to close that chapter and start working, because they start from scratch. I consider that I stayed a little bit in that moment of having won, in that good moment, and I couldn’t be in the present of competing. I had physical and mental exhaustion after winning and after playing three weeks in a row. I think if I could do it again, I would have rested for at least a week so I could start from scratch. There are much more good things left than bad.
Last season was atypical. Many players went to LIV Golf, starting with Juan Sebastián Muñoz. How did that affect the PGA Tour environment?
I think it’s obviously a decision they make, they are different ways of seeing what one wants to do. Today there are several uncertainties: what is going to happen with those players, what is going to happen with the LIV and if there are going to be alliances with the PGA Tour. But one does realize that those great superstars were not there. One thing I could notice is that it was believed that on the PGA Tour the decisions were made by the players and that is not the case. The PGA commissioner has had difficult times, he criticizes a lot of what he does. He wouldn’t want to be in that position of making decisions right now.
He played two majors in his first year, the PGA Championship and the US Open, but couldn’t make the cuts. What did those experiences leave you?
It is a different golf that is played, I realized that the preparation has to be different. You play a little more defensively, to make pairs, in those tournaments the pairs are very positive. You feel the heavy atmosphere a little more and you could also see those LIV faces that we were already getting used to not seeing. They are places that one did not know before and had never seen, had no experience, there was no experience of those fields. But it was a great experience to have been able to compete in those two Majors.
Despite his first victory on the PGA Tour, it was not enough to reach the playoffs.
The format was changed. If I had been in the position I finished in last year, I could have made the playoffs, but being down to 70 players, I couldn’t qualify. It was one of the goals of the year, and especially after having won it feels like I could have given a little more to have been able to get in, but it is not easy to get there. They are good things and bad things that one learns.
What did you work on during the month and a half of break and how did you prepare for what’s next?
There are still some tournaments starting in September, I will be in six. I had to prepare in a different way, thinking about the physical part. When you play for so many weeks in a row, you realize the wear and tear on your body.
What is your schedule like for the rest of the year?
We play in Napa now, then there are a few weeks off and then there are three tournaments in a row, but all this will be preparation for January. Having won gives me a place to play in Kapalua, where only those who won can compete. That is the hope for what is to come.
JOSÉ ORLANDO ASCENCIO
Sports Deputy Editor
@Josasc
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