12 of the 29 Spaniards who teed it up at the ACCIONA Open de España presented by Madrid managed to make the 36-hole cut, which fell at -2. 11 of them are in the top 30, so a very special weekend for Spanish golf awaits and, despite the fact that none of them are leading, the chances of a home victory are still looking very good.
After Jon Rahm’s fifth place, a trio of home players lie four shots from the top of the pile and they will all be playing together on Saturday in a match that is guaranteed to draw a crowd. Sebas Garcia, Alfredo Garcia-Heredia and amateur Luis Masaveu all finished Friday at -8, on the brink of the top 10, and will be bidding for a moving day that puts them in the battle for the cup on Sunday.
Pablo Larrazábal, another of the home favourites, sits one shot further back. The Barcelona native continued his solid form into Friday with a round of 67.
Sebas Garcia proves that he who dares, wins
Sebas Garcia has been promising a great round for some time and it came on Friday at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, when the Madrid native found a spark to produce a superlative 64 that puts him in the thick of it for the weekend.
Significantly, there were no blemishes on his card, he recorded 5 birdies and an eagle with a fine display of driving and gave himself plenty of birdie chances, most of which he converted.
“The only difference from yesterday is that today the ball decided to go in, because I’ve been playing well for a while, but I couldn’t score. I’m having fun again after a period with a lot of changes, during which I wasn’t having a great time. I just had to wait, although there’s a long way to go and I have to finish it off with a good weekend”.
He is happy with his round, his game and his attitude, but he’s not getting ahead of himself and thinking about Sunday, because he has to keep battling on Saturday and hope for another round like today’s: “I’m focused on myself, I don’t know who’s leading, or who I’m playing with tomorrow, I don’t even know if Jon is up there… Concentrating on my game, as I have since I got my round going today with the eagle on 7, which gave me some momentum and that’s why I had a good day, so more of the same tomorrow”.
Currently, it look like Sebas is intent on saving his card for 2023, but he has been dreaming big for some time and that battle is smaller than the ones he wants to fight:
“I’m not thinking about my card, I’m thinking about climbing the leaderboard and winning. Am I well placed for the weekend? Yes. Is my goal top-50 at the end of the year? Yes. That’s the end goal”.
