Pablo Larrazábal won, with a total of 265 shots (15 under par) and after an extraordinary round of 62 shots (-8), in the ISPS Handa Championship, a scoring tournament for the DP World of golf that took place from Thursday in the Infinitum Lakes field in Salou (Tarragona) with the presence of 156 players from 25 nations. With this victory, the golfer from Barcelona, in addition to pocketing 308,000 euros, is placed fourth in the ranking of the formerly called European Circuit. This is the seventh victory on the circuit and the second of the season after the one achieved at the Pecanwood Classic in Hartbeespoort (South Africa).
Scotsman Scott Jamieson, who started as the leader with 11 under par and 13 holes to go to complete the course, added a birdie at hole 8 (-12), but had an ordeal on the second round with triple bogey at 12. He recovered with a birdie on the 14th, but chained bogeys on the 15th, 16th and 17th holes for presit a card of 74 (+4) and a total of 203 (-7) that made him fall to the tenth position. Adrián Otaegui, from San Sebastian, with the same holes to cover as Jamieson, started with a birdie at 9, failed with a bogey at el 14 and reacted with birdies on 16 and 17 for a card of 68 (-2) and a total of 200 shots that placed him in the lead with 10 under par, tied with the Canadian Aaron Cockerill, who had presented a card on Saturday of 62 (-8).
As if that weren’t enough, the South African Hennie du Plessis, who started at hole 9, added birdies at 13, 16 and 18, with a mistake at 17 and a round of 66 (-4) for 200 (-10) totals. Thus, there was a triple tie in the lead and, in addition, the French Antoine Rozner, winner of the Dubai Open in 2020 and the Qatar Masters in 2021, with a card of 66 strokes (-4), was placed with 201 strokes (-9 ) and one of the leaders. Larrazábal, who began his match on hole 10, bogeyed on hole 13 and finished with 68 (-2) for a total of 203 (-7). He was tied for sixth with seven other players.
Otaegui started with three birdies (holes 1, 3 and 5) and was the sole leader with -13 after an error by the Canadian Cockerill with a bogey in the 5. He reached the end of the first round with pairs and kept his direct rival at one stroke and the South African Du Plessis, at two. Larrazabal added three birdies (holes 4, 7 and 9) and finished the first round with -10 and got into the fight. De Plessis got a birdie on the 10th and had Otaegui one stroke away, while Cockerill, with a double bogey on the 10th, seemed to run out of steam.
And Larrazábal’s explosion came with birdies on holes 1, 12, 13 and 14 with incredible putts of 6 and 8 meters to take the lead on hole 13 with -14. In the 15th, a par 4 of 465 meters, he bogeyed, and Otaegui tied it again (both with -13). Cockerill and De Plessís, both with birdies at 13, caused a quadruple tie in the lead. But the Barcelonan had his day and returned to the lead with an incredible putt of 10 meters on the 16th hole. Otaegui, who came from behind, tried birdies that did not come out. Neither did Cockerill and Du Plessis, who could only cover the holes with pairs.
At the 18th hole, Larrazábal closed his round with a birdie with a putt of a meter and a half for a round of 62 (-8), with nine birdies and a single error, equaling the best card of the tournament, that Aaron Cockerill achieved on Saturday, to total 265 shots (-15) and go to the practice field as leader and await the end of the day.
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