Spaniard seizes a scoop of Ryder Cup points too
The Spaniard Pablo Larrazábal played another superb round of golf yesterday at Bernardus Golf in Cromvoirt, the Netherlands. Surprisingly, he birdied the last hole and so won the 2023 KLM Open title by two strokes from fellow-countryman, Adrian Otaegui.
Forty-year old Larrazábal, who was born in Barcelona, shot rounds of 66, 73, 67 and 69 to secure a score of 13-under par and so seize the Dutch Open trophy. However, his final round suffered a double bogey at the par-4 2nd which could have seen him drop dramatically down the leaderboard. Yet he kept his cool. With six birdies on his card, including three at the last four holes, victory for the Spanish talent looked pretty certain.
Spaniard Adrian Otaegui played with Larrazábal in the final flight together with Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard. The pair were just one stroke adrift of Larrazábal’s 54-hole score of 10-under par.
The 22-year old player from Denmark made three bogeys and four birdies on Sunday. Two of the bogeys came on the back nine at the 13th and 15th holes. The 23-year old South African golfer Deon Germishuys attacked the Bernardus course with four birdies in the first seven holes before finishing with straight pars on the back nine. Hojgaard and Germishuys finally shared third spot on 10-under.
Spanish tussle
The tussle between the two Spaniards climaxed on the final hole where Pablo Larrazábal’s rather nervous-looking drive flew to the right. The player from Barcelona was looking for his ninth victory on the Tour, but luckily his drive finished in a sand-bunker some 250 metres or so from the green. He was in with a chance of winning, certainly after playing a sensible shot out of the sand to within 100 metres of the flag.
Larrazábal then played a dream shot onto the middle of the green where he took his time before holing out for a beautiful birdie and a round of 3-under par. His tally for the KLM Open was a handsome 13-under par which earned him the enviable 2023 title two strokes ahead of fellow-countryman Adrian Otaegi who also delighted the fans with a birdie at the par-5 18th.
“Nowadays I’m enjoying life so much”, said Pablo Larrazábal in his winning speech. Happiness both on and off the golf course is most certainly a key to his success. He has had four victories in the last 15 months among them the MyGolfLife Open hosted by Pecanwood in South Africa and then ISPS Handa Championship in Spain – his first win on home soil.
Best home players
The best Dutch player this week was Rowin Caron who thrilled the golf fans with four solid rounds for a score of 7-under par and a share of 8th place with Grant Forrest, Ewen Ferguson and Gavin Green. Caron lives and plays golf in America. The 30-year old shot rounds of 72,68,71 and 70.
Joost Luiten had high hopes of winning his third Dutch Open title at Bernardus but after a strong start (-5) he had to settle for a disappointing share of 21st place with rounds of 67,72,72,73. Fortunately after four bogeys on Sunday, Luiten also had three birdies, the last of which was on the 18th hole to give him a bit of new confidence for his next event.
A perfect week of mediterranean weather greeted the European Tour players at the KLM Open. It is no surprise then that a Spanish player should lift the title of one of the oldest tournaments on the schedule.
Pablo Larrazábal becomes the sixth Spanish player ever to win the Dutch Open. He joins the fine company of ‘Masters of Golf’ such as Seve Ballesteros, José Maria Olazábal and Sergio Garcia. Now that is a true honour!
Congratulations Pablo Larrazábal, you are the 2023 Dutch Open Champion! We wish you even more success this year and, who knows, perhaps even a place in the Ryder Cup team!
Wendy Hoad
Editor
MAIN PHOTOGRAPH: The victorious Pablo Larrazábal from Spain is delighted with winning the 2023 KLM Open trophy. MINIS (l-r): Pablo Larrazábal and his caddie, Rasmus Hojgaard, Pablo Larrazábal and Adrian Otaegui.