Ignacio ignited again

Play-off heartbreak but plenty of hope for Garrido

Last updated: 5th May 2008

ignacio garrido

Garrido: massive positives

You can well and truly say Ignacio Garrido is back as a contender on the European Tour.

Mark Roe
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Ignacio Garrido is back!

That was the verdict of Golf Night's Mark Roe even though the Spaniard blew a three-shot lead to end up second in the Spanish Open.

Peter Lawrie's play-off success made it three wins in as many weeks for Irish golf, but Garrido's showing at the Real Club de Golf de Sevilla was a story in itself.

He set the pace with a 66 and a 63 before tailing off with two par rounds over the weekend and was only denied victory on the first play-off hole when Lawrie holed out from 25 feet and on the second when his approach pitched close to the pin only to spin back into the drink.

It meant heartbreak for Garrido, but Roe still believes the Spanish Open will prove a watershed in his career.

"I think in the cold light of day when Garrido sits down in the morning, he'll realise that two 72's over the weekend round that golf course, after the start he had, was pretty poor, pretty average," he told Golf Night.

"But if he looks at the manner of that last round, having gone out so poorly and the way he played the back nine in 33 strokes and that putt he holed on 18, he can be very proud of himself.

"He can take massive positives from it. He knows he can make a put, in essence, to win and he hit some wonderful shots under pressure."

The runners-up cheque in Seville shot Garrido up to 28th in the Order of Merit.

It means he has already surpassed last season's total earnings of €222,758 by some €60,000 and, says Roe, proves that he can recapture the sort of form that saw him finish sixth in the standings 11 years ago.

"If you look at his record over the last few years, in 2004 he was 120-odd in the Order of Merit, in 2005 he was 140-odd and last year, 114th, so he's not been playing well," he said.

"Now, all of a sudden, with the massive cheque, he'll fly up the Order. He'll get his exemption, which was running out, and it's been a huge week for him, massive."

"You can well and truly say he's back as a contender on the European Tour."