Having provided one of the greatest shots of the golf season thus far, holing out with a five iron for a final-round albatross en route to victory in Madrid two weeks ago, Nacho Elvira returns to action at this week’s Turkish Airlines Challenge.
The Spaniard earned his second career title on the Challenge Tour when he stormed to a four-shot victory at the Challenge de Madrid in front of the delighted home fans of his native city.
The 28 year old entered the final round tied for the lead, but an explosive start which yielded three birdies and that most elusive of achievements in golf – an albatross two at the par five fourth – meant he cruised to victory at El Encin Golf Hotel.
It was the first three under par hole of his career, but the 2013 Challenge Tour graduate did not get much time to celebrate and made sure it was back to the grind last Monday morning in preparation for this week’s event at Gloria Golf Club in Belek.
“As soon as we finished I had to go to a wedding on Saturday night but we did have a big lunch on Sunday to celebrate,” he said. “Then I was just getting myself ready for this week and the Open de España next week.
“It was a great week. I couldn’t have asked for anything better, especially making an albatross. It was an unbelievable week obviously and coming down the last two holes with a big lead was really great.
“The video has gone viral through Twitter, I have received a lot of messages from people, mostly asking how I could hit a five iron 200 metres. I’ve told them it was downwind, but it was the first albatross of my career and it couldn’t have happened at a better moment.”
Elvira burst on to the Challenge Tour at the end of the 2013 season, claiming a maiden victory at the inaugural Foshan Open, a win which was sandwiched by a run of four top tens in five starts.
His rookie season on The European Tour did not go as he had planned, but having made 21 cuts in 32 appearances he took a lot of positives and is now already in prime position to make a return to the top tier.
“In 2013 I had a good end to the season obviously but I struggled through 2014 on The European Tour. In the off season I sat down with my coaches and figured out what I have to do to improve, and I couldn’t have asked for a better start to this season, to win in the first Challenge Tour tournament I played.
“It opens up a good window for me to play on the Challenge Tour and keep improving. I made a lot of cuts on The European Tour and some tournaments I played really decent golf, a couple of top 15s and top 20s but from the middle of the year to the end, I couldn’t play good golf at the weekends.
“I don’t know if that was because I wasn’t physically ready or mentally ready but I did learn a lot and I think it’s going to make me better this year.”
This is Elvira’s first time in Turkey and he is hoping that he can carry on the stunning form he produced in his last 18 holes of golf over a tight and testing lay-out in the golf resort town of Belek.
“This is the first time in Turkey for me,” he said. “I’ve never been here before and so far it looks unbelievable. I’ve seen some pictures of the course and it looks really nice and the weather couldn’t be better.
“It definitely looks good so far and hopefully it will be a good week. It would be great to have another big result here but I have been a little bit sick last week and I’ve been working really hard out on the golf course, trying to improve a little bit more on the mistakes I have made lately. Hopefully it will be my week again though, that would be great.”
Elvira currently lies in third place in the Roam to Oman Rankings and he is joined in the field this week by three others from the top five – South Africa’s Brandon Stone, Englishman Sam Walker and Ricardo Gouveia of Portugal.
Welshmen hoping to follow in the footsteps of last year’s winner Oliver Farr include Stuart Manley, Rhys Davies and Rhys Enoch.
