57 years have passed since the European golf elite gathered for the first and last time at the Real Club de Golf de Sotogrande, it was in 1966 with the victory of the Argentine Roberto de Vicenzo in the Spanish Open.
It is striking that the first course in Europe designed by Trent Jones (1964) has only hosted one European Tour tournament before this week. With the Estrella Damm Andalucía Masters they will be two of the 65 DP World Tour tournaments that have been held throughout its history in Andalusia. It will be the second to be held at what is considered by many to be the best golf course in Spain.
The reason is none other than that its rich cousin, the Real Club de Golf de Valderrama, has monopolized the entire focus of golf at the highest professional level throughout history, although its commitment to LIV Golf this year left the doors behind. of the relay wide open. It was there where courses such as San Roque, the Reserva de Sotogrande or the Real Club de Golf de Sevilla, bid together with Real de Sotogrande to start this new stage of a tournament that has raised its prizes to almost four million euros.
Real won the tournament, although the dates are not ideal to present the field in the best conditions, the drought has greatly punished the grass on the course throughout the summer and the adverse weather conditions this week, which include almost hurricane wind for the first day, have marked a much more benign preparation of the field.
Even so, the image of the tour, which had partners as well-known as Sean Connery, has ended up dazzling the two most illustrious guests of this edition of the tournament; the winner of the US Open and top-ten in the world ranking Wyndham Clark who visits Spain for the first time: “This is beautiful and I am having a great experience. The food is fantastic, the people are wonderful and the countryside has pleasantly surprised me.. I haven't played much golf in such a beautiful environment, with these trees and this topography. “I'm really enjoying it,” explained the player from Denver, a double winner on the PGA Tour.
His compatriot Matt Kuchar is the other North American star, hired to shine at the event. “I'm delighted to be here. The landscape reminds me a lot of southern California, with mountains, sea and palm trees; “It's a very special place,” said Kuchar.. Apparently, they have been two of the main beneficiaries of the 1.5 million euros that the organization could have used to recruit renowned players and in some way make up for the sensitive absence of Jon Rahm. The one from Barrika was finally unable to adapt his calendar to compete in Spain for two consecutive weeks.
Of the 126 registered players, 17 Spaniards will try to make Jon Rahm forget. Pablo Larrazábal, Jorge Campillo, Adrián Otaegui, Adri Arnaus, Rafa Cabrera Bello, the amateur Jaime Montojo, Alfredo García Heredia, Alejandro Cañizares, Borja Virto, Álvaro Quirós, Carlos Pigem, Pep Anglés, Santiago Tarrío, Ángel Hidalgo, Nacho Elvira, Sebastián García and Alejandro del Rey will seek a new Spanish victory in the tournament's record, in the final stretch of the European Tour season.