Ángel Ayora, a golfer with great power, elegant swing and courage – sometimes too much -, will fight on Sunday head to head 18 holes in Alcanada (Alcudia) against the Dane Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen for the title of the final of the Rolex Challenge, the second category of European golf. If he achieves it, it would be the second title of the season for the Cádiz native after the victory in the Rosa Challenge in Poland last September and it would be the perfect ending to his first professional season at the age of 20.
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On the Saturday of the movement, a day with hardly any breeze, greens receptive and soft due to the downpour at night and spring in November on the Mediterranean island, Neergaard Petersen, the player of the year in the category, took great advantage of it throughout all day. The Oklahoma State-raised golfer, armed with an amazing putt, stepped on the accelerator when Ayora, excellent for 40 holes, made a couple of stumbles in the middle of the round.
The one from La Cañada made three putts on the 5th and played the 7th hole (par 5) poorly to add two bogeys before missing the fairway on the 9th, which he paid for with another error. The two birdies with which he had started the third day were neutralized and the promising golfer’s takeoff had stopped. That option triggered the ambition of Neergaard Petersen, who, plugging it from all sides on the green – what a recital with that club -, holed six birdies in seven holes, between 9 and 15.
The Nordic’s charge, a torrent of play, 62 strokes, the same as Ángel on Thursday, was unstoppable. But Ayora, in a strategy exercise, began to defend himself well. His game was not at the super level of the first two days, but he combined several good pars with birdies in the long stretches, where he shot for eagle, and on the friendly par 4 of the 15th hole, in which he reached the green with the first shot and made another birdie. That allowed him to get within one stroke of Niva, who has won three tournaments in this year’s Challenge. Like Brooks Koepka did in 2013 or Nacho Elvira in 2015.
The golfer from La Cañada still saved the shot of the day. On the 17th, a par 3 in which the Dane made another putt from the outside, Ayora nailed the iron from an inch away. Seventh birdie of the day and tie at 21 under par. In another shot from the confines of the 18th green, Neergaard Petersen made the tenth birdie of the day, breaking the tie and going to bed with a one-shot lead.
This will enter a Sunday where if the Norwegian Reitan were to finish second – he is three away from the lead – the Spaniard could also be proclaimed king of the category as Álvaro Velasco (2010) and Carlos Suneson (1999) achieved only in this country. But it would be enough if he simply lifted the title in Mallorca. Confirmation of the great future of a boy who has the talent of the chosen ones.
