Juan Parron of Spain continued the blistering form that saw him finish 11th in the Andulacia Open de Espana Valle Romano on The European Tour a fortnight ago by taking the lead at the European Challenge Tour’s Parco di Monza Challenge after a second round 69 took him to seven under par 135 for the tournament and into a one stroke lead from six players on six under.
The Challenge Tour’s most recent champion, Frenchman Anthony Snobeck, hauled himself into the chasing pack just one stroke off the pace with a best of the day 66 at the Golf Club Milano, joining Englishman Gareth Davies, Argentina’s Cesar Monasterio, Denmark’s Thomas Nielsen and the Spanish pair of Alvaro Quiros and Alvaro Salto.
Spain’s Rafael Cabrera Bello and Englishman Marcus Higley are tied on five under par, with another four players just one stroke further back on four under par.
But the man to catch in Monza is Parron, who has enjoyed some fine results in his rookie Challenge Tour season. The 24 year old made a great start to the season in South America, taking third place at the Abierto Movistar Guatemala Open before his wonderful 11th place finish at his home country’s National Open at San Roque Club two weeks ago.
Parron is in his fourth year as a professional but is venturing beyond his native for a full season for the first time in his short career. He is hoping to join many of his more famous countrymen like Gonzalo Fernandez Castaño, Sergio Garcia, Miguel Angel Jiménez and José Maria Olazábal on The European Tour, and form part of the new generation of up and coming Spanish players on The Tour.
He is certainly keeping the right company by counting Ryder Cup star Jiménez amongst his closest allies, and is hoping that he can learn enough form the Spanish master to stand him in good stead for the rest of his career.
He said: “It is a great time for the young Spanish players. There are a lot of good Spanish players coming through now and we want to progress and go as far as we can. For me, this is my first year on the Challenge Tour, and if I can do well this year then it will be great for my future.
“Players like Alvaro Salto and Diego Borrego have been very good with me on the Challenge Tour. They have taught me that I have to play this game shot by shot. It sounds very boring, but for me, that is something that I have had to get used to and I believe I am learning all the time.
“The biggest thing for me is to stay relaxed on the course, no matter what happens. Even if I have a bogey or a birdie I have to stay on the same level at all times – you have to keep your emotions at the same level no matter what happens.
“Also, Miguel Angel Jiménez has helped me a lot. He is amazing. He is a guy who believes that he can win every event that he plays in, no matter who is in the field or what the tournament is, and I would love to get to that level of thinking.
“I played with him for three days last month and he gave me lots of great advice – mostly about my mind and how to approach certain shots. He has been a great influence for me.”
