Last week came the following a three-year absence, the inclusion of a second stage venue in Australia strengthening ties to that part of the world. Its conclusion will take place at INFINITUM, where Pablo Larrazabal showed a touch of class on Sunday, as the Spaniard won his seventh DP World Tour title and second of 2022.
Larrazabal is in many ways what the DP World Tour is about, which might make some uncomfortable given that his bag sports a Golf Saudi logo. He has never cracked the top 50 in the world and never really looked like one who would make his way to the PGA Tour, even now. Instead, he sets a bar at this level, and if you find yourself up against him during the closing stages on Sunday, you'll know victory will be hard-earned.
He's also an advert for opportunities. Larrazabal came through Qualifying School back in 2007, and then a 36-hole qualifier for the Open de France during his rookie season. There, he famously held off Colin Montgomerie in front of friends and family for a 500/1 success, and he'd go on to beat Sergio Garcia for his second title, Rory McIlroy for his third, and Henrik Stenson for his fourth. It's a shame none of these came at the right time in terms of making a Ryder Cup team, and that might again be true in terms of his 2023 ambitions.
Before INFINITUM came along, PGA Catalunya was home to Qualifying School for many years, so in some ways we're repeating last week. We have stacks of form to go on, the Stadium Course having hosted four of the six rounds from 2008 onwards, the year Larrazabal sailed through. It's also staged a Nordic Golf League event, but this time we've got some DP World Tour form, too, courtesy of the 2000, 2009 and 2014 Open de Espanas.
Those three events confirm what we've subsequently learned at Qualifying School, that the Stadium Course here is pretty difficult. Indeed, Miguel Angel Jimenez won a play-off for the Open de Espana title in four-under, every single player in the field shooting over-par for the par-threes and par-fours, finding respite across four par-fives. Playing to a par of 72 again and with the par-five 15th particularly straightforward, we should see a similar pattern for all that scoring will surely be lower.
Under good conditions, which are currently forecast for this week, the Stadium Course is demanding but not brutal. Thomas Levet shot 18-under to win in 2009, and while Carlos Del Moral's 22-under for four rounds was outrageous, the best players at Q-School have tended to creep to somewhere around the 12-under mark. Something in the low teens might make for a good target, so again we're repeating last week to some degree, with INFINITUM clearly made tougher than it has been in the past.
We do have one or two high-class additions to the field, namely Jordan Smith, Adrian Meronk and Richard Bland, but I was staggered when bet365 made the first-named their favourite on Monday morning and want to be on BERND WIESBERGER now he's been eased a touch in the market.
An 18/1 shot this time last week, Wiesberger is now 25-30/1 and while a slightly stronger field might justify that, those who bring the level up also concede a pipe-opener to those who are playing their second week in Spain. With conditions likely similar, that looks a significant point of difference and it's not like the incoming lot are prolific winners, either.
Wiesberger is something approaching that, certainly at this level, with eight DP World Tour wins putting him ahead of Larrazabal by one. And while concerns over his putting must remain, this course is a stern ball-striking test where he can do his scoring damage on the par-fives, courtesy of a long-game perhaps only Marcus Armitage can rival right now.
The Austrian was pretty clear on the eve of the ISPS Handa that he felt a little undercooked, telling europeantour.com: "It’s been a little bit too long by about a week or so for my liking, but unfortunately I wasn't able to sneak into the Match Play at Austin so I had a week there without any tournaments.
"It was nice to be home obviously for three weeks but it just felt like after the season started with a nice run of events, I had a bit too long of a break but it is what it is and I tried to get ready as much as I could.
"All of the parts of the game are there so it’s just a matter of time before it all clicks. I’m looking forwards to when that happens and hopefully I can give it a go this week."
Those words would hardly have inspired confidence and he very much went through the motions to finish mid-division, hopefully with his sights set on this week and next. Remember, INFINITUM was new to him whereas he came through Qualifying School here back in 2008, later recovering from an opening 80 to make the cut and share 38th in 2014, his four-under total over the closing 54-holes matching the winning score.
This talented Englishman is now established as one of the best maidens on the circuit, and with so much of his best golf produced along the Iberian Peninsula, this looks a good event for the breakthrough.
Canter came close when runner-up to George Coetzee in Portugal and also had a chance when leading at Valderrama last year, which itself followed fifth place in Mallorca. Last week's 30th was a decent effort on his return from a break and everything about it suggests his customary long, straight driving and quality approach play had both taken steps forward from the first phase of the season which saw him employ some new gear.
In the latest chapter in a book we'll call 'how will Langasque coax everyone (or just me?) in', Langasque shot 77-65 last week, his second-round score bettered by just three players. On Friday at INFINITUM he carded four birdies and an eagle, but the damage had been done a day earlier.
Had those rounds been the other way I might've been happy to move on, but returning from a month off, anyone can be forgiven a slow start. Langasque was also on the wrong side of a slight draw bias so there are reasons to overlook what happened on Thursday, for all that I'm acutely aware he's received the benefit of the doubt many times now.
Lorenzo Vera had caught my eye before the Kenya Open only to disappoint there, but he suggested it may have been a forgivable blip with his iron play up at altitude by hitting the ball really well on his return to action, ranking third in fairways, second in greens, sixth in strokes-gained off-the-tee and 20th in strokes-gained approach.
Those final two rankings are not totally trustworthy but the traditional accuracy stats are and they provide a nice platform for a player who is typically known to boast a fine short-game, putter in particular having been a weapon since he re-established himself at this level.
That process actually began here at PGA Catalunya back in 2013, as Lorenzo Vera described to .
"We are at the Q School final in 2013, and I am playing my last hole of the fourth round at PGA Catalunya. I’m one shot inside the cut. I’ve hit the fairway and the heart of the green, and I have a putt with a big angled break. I told my brother that I was going to chip it over the break with my sand wedge, and he tells me ‘No, you’re going to putt that four metres right.’
"So we get into this argument and he says, ‘I’m going to snap your sand wedge so just take the putter.’ I hit the putt to one foot from the hole and made par to make the cut.
"I got so lucky because I was only first reserve for Final Stage. But Miles Tunnicliff pulled out and I got in. Then I made the cut and I got a category on the Challenge Tour and started to rebuild. That was crazy but you need a bit of luck."
If that's the case, the Paraguayan can threaten to win again as he's been playing well for some time now, his last missed cut coming 50 weeks ago. Since then his best result came when fourth at Valderrama and he's another with form in the Open de France, where he's previously finished ninth, has led at halfway, and is on a run of seven cuts made in succession.
Crucially, his putting has improved this season and while his long-game hasn't quite caught fire, that's probably because he's played two Rolex Series events on long courses, two more unsuitable ones at Al Hamra, and then another two on long, soft courses in South Africa. Not once in six starts has he really had his conditions.
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