Jordi Garcia Pinto returns to defend his title at the Barclays Kenya Open this week, the maiden event of the European Challenge Tour season, determined that this will be the year he makes his breakthrough to The European Tour.
The Spaniard claimed his maiden professional title at Karen Country Club, in Nairobi, last year after a dramatic finale in which he held off a late challenge from Dutchman Tim Sluiter to secure a one shot victory.
It was an emotional win for Garcia Pinto, who shed tears of joy afterwards, and one which instilled him with the belief that he has what it takes to climb to the top tier of European golf.
While he missed out on graduation last year, eventually finishing 24th in the Challenge Tour Rankings, he is delighted to be returning to Kenya and is looking forward to feeding off the memories of last year’s win.
“I have great memories from last year,” said the 24 year old. “I played great golf over all four rounds, especially my short game – it was unbelievable and I won because of that.
“I'm really happy to be here and to try to defend my title. It is a little bit special. It’s like I have a little more responsibility this week and I like that.
“It was a nervous finish for me here last season. I three-putted at the 16th, then I bogeyed the 17th and then Tim almost eagled 18 to take it to a play-off but I got through it in the right way.
“The feeling was amazing. From that moment on I started to really believe in myself and now I know that I can win, hopefully this season I can repeat that and do better.”
For the second year running, Garcia Pinto waived the opportunity to play for a European Tour card at Qualifying School (in his home town of Girona) because he determined to play his way to the top tier via the Challenge Tour, and he thinks he now has what it takes to finish in that all-important top 15.
“I played well most of the season last year but maybe I needed another win,” he said. “I think you need two wins if you want to get into that top 15 so that is my aim for this year. Hopefully I can do it.
“I'm improving a lot every year. I can feel it in myself and I can see it in the results. If I can improve on last year this time around then I think it will be a successful season.
“I feel that I still need one more year and that’s why I did not go to Qualifying School. I didn’t get it last year on the Challenge so I must not have been ready. Obviously, I'm not going to do this my whole career! But I want to be fully prepared for The European Tour by finishing top 15.”
Garcia Pinto heads an extremely strong field which includes two former Ryder Cup players in the shape of Phillip Price, who beat Phil Mickelson at The Belfry in 2002 en route to a famous European victory, and Oliver Wilson, who also claimed a victory over the four-time Major winner – who played with Anthony Kim – in 2008 in the Saturday foursomes, alongside Henrik Stenson.
European Tour winners in the field include three-time champion Nick Dougherty, Welshman Rhys Davies, Denmark’s Jeppe Huldahl and Maarten Lafeber of The Netherlands, who won this event back in 1999.
Espen Kofstad, the 2012 Challenge Tour Number One, returns to the Challenge Tour in search of his third title and he is joined by two more former Rankings winners in Alvaro Velasco and Michael Lorenzo-Vera.
