Carlos Ortiz, the golfer of composure, debuted at LIV Golf, the circuit that debuted two Junes ago. The 33-year-old from Guadalajara went to win in the same city where in 2020 he embraced the Houston Open, the only tournament he won in his experience on the PGA Tour, the circuit that now repudiates him. This time the prize was even more fabulous: four million dollars.
Ortiz, 33 years old, four daughters – and a schooling program that sponsors a few other children -, He knew how to play with mastery on a hot Sunday and in a setting where he was able to take the driver out frequently to leave six birdies and a bogey on the last hole (67 strokes) and win the duel he had during the afternoon with Adrian Meronk – until the error on the par 5 of the 15th hole – and, in the first 9 holes, with David Puig. He is the second Mexican to win a tournament on the circuit promoted by Arab capital after Abraham Ancer, winner in Hong Kong this year, and the fifteenth golfer in the history of the circuit.
“I’m very happy. I learned a lot from Australia -where I was second- and I was patient. It’s a shame that I can’t play the two remaining Majors, but now we’ll have to go to Nashville and then in the summer to Europe,” Ortiz said after being bathed in champagne by Joaco Niemann, his teammates. del Torque. The statistics confirmed his superb day. He took 17 greens, he only missed the end, when he already had the tournament packed.
Puig (69), who will need to make the cut next week at the US Opento be in the Paris Olympic Games, finished third, his best performance in this experience, after having commanded the tournament in the first holes. Holing the four-meter putts required of the winners, the Fireballs player made three birdies in six holes. Only Ortiz had that answer.
But he got stuck after a bogey on 9 and from then on he suffered five more holes without success. He made another bogey at 12 and missed 13, a nice par 5. When he plugged in again, two consecutive birdies on holes 15 and 16, everything was already finalized. They did not even have time to rescue the victory in the team classification that was, which was on the day of the European elections, to the Cleeks of Meronk, Kaymer, Bland and Samooja, who are making their debut in this section in its three years of history. They beat Smash and Fireballs by two.
Among the Spaniards, Sergio García finished fifth after 68 strokes, with seven birdies, a double bogey and a bogey. The one from Borriol, who is still waiting for a final invitation to the US Open that could be announced this Monday, showed firmness with the irons and except for the big mistake on hole 5, he had a Sunday at great height. Eugenio L�pez Chacarra, irregular on the greens, finished the day with 75 strokes, which relegated him to 41st place.
