"Boring" Catlin hits the front at Valderrama
American John Catlin. Picture: Getty Images
Unheralded American John Catlin admits he plays “boring” golf but he believes he has the style and the mental strength to grab is maiden European Tour win in the Andalucia Masters at a brutal Valderrama.
The Californian (29) hit the headlines last month when he was withdrawn from the English Championship for visiting a local restaurant with his caddie in breach of the Tour’s strict Covid-19 protocols.
This time he’s playing it by the book and after picking up two birdies in his last three holes to card a 70, he leads by two shots on three-under from Spain’s Pablo Larrazábal, Scot Connor Syme and Welshman Jamie Donaldson.
“I was hanging on in the middle of the round. I got off to a hot start again but then I started making bogeys, which you can do out here pretty easily if you miss a fairway here and a green there,” Catlin said. “I made a really good bogey on nine, that could have been a double pretty quickly. I hung in there all day and was able to hole putts there on 16, 17 and 18. I hit a great shot on 18, I just misjudged the wind a little bit. It’s nice to get two good ones in over the first two days.
“Winning is never easy. It doesn’t matter what Tour you’re on, you have to go out there, make birdies and hole putts. Being able to look myself in the mirror and know I’ve done this before and can do it again is hugely helpful. It helped me out there today, even though I haven’t won a European Tour event, I know I’m fully capable of doing that.
“Every single part of your game is tested here. Last year I played and really struggled. I was contemplating whether I’d come and play the tournament. I knew I was a better golfer than I was a year ago, I knew I was playing well. I thought, it’s a great golf course, it’s a beautiful place, you might as well put your game to the test. It’s nice to have come out pretty well over the first two rounds.
“(The mental side) has always been one of the strongest parts of my game. I’m never going to wow you. I’m a pretty boring golfer, I hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens. My mind is something I’ve used in the past. I’m going to need it over the next few days for sure. It’s a grind. To be able to have that in my back pocket is very helpful.
“It’s going to be nice to get some rest. I was exhausted. I got to about 14 and 15 and it felt like on every hole I had a three to six-footer for par and I was thinking ‘man I’m tired’. It’s going to be nice to rest up and be fresh for tomorrow.”
Clandeboye’s Jonathan Caldwell ground his way into the weekend for the fifth time in seven starts since the European Tour returned from lockdown in July.
The former Walker Cup star (36) added a 75 to his opening 73 to make the eight-over par cut on six-over as Ardglass’ Cormac Sharvin and The Island’s Gavin Moynihan packed their bags.
Sharvin was just three-over for the tournament after following a bogey at the first with back to back birdies at the third and fourth.
But the Co Down talent limped home in 42 for a 76, finishing double-bogey, bogey to miss the cut by one.
Moynihan had another rollercoaster day at one of his favourite courses with an eagle three at the penultimate hole the highlight as he shot 78 to finish on 15-over.
Pablo Larrazábal: “I didn't play my best golf today. I've played very poorly in the UK Swing, and I didn't play any good today, but I hung in there, making pars. I hit a couple of great shots - the third on 11 and the second shot on 13.
“Grinding, great save on 15. Trying to get the positives. I hit three putts on 17 - a perfect five iron to the middle right of the green on 17 and then three-putted. And bogey on 18 is going to be pretty close to average. I'm happy with the fight, with the mental work I've been doing the last couple of days, and I’m happy for the result.”
Jamie Donaldson: “I’m very pleased. It’s a battle out there on the best of days, even when there’s no wind blowing here it’s still difficult. It was blowing 30 yesterday and probably 20 today, looking like the same this afternoon. It’s very difficult, you’ve got to be very patient out there. I’m happy with the position I’m in.
“The short game gets a test here because you’re not going to hit many greens when it’s so blowy. A good up and down on 15 and 17 I made a great shot in; it just went further than we thought. It was a good up and down from there.”
Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters, Real Club Valderrama, Sotogrande, Cádiz, (Par 71)
139 J Catlin (USA) 69 70
141 C Syme (Sco) 69 72, P Larrazábal (Esp) 71 70, J Donaldson (Wal) 72 69
142 W Nienaber (RSA) 72 70
143 G Migliozzi (Ita) 69 74, S Kjeldsen (Den) 71 72, A Cañizares (Esp) 73 70, L Gagli (Ita) 74 69
144 J McLeod (Aus) 71 73, M Kaymer (Ger) 72 72, R McGowan (Eng) 72 72
145 A Quiros (Esp) 72 73, T Detry (Bel) 73 72, A Rozner (Fra) 76 69, J Winther (Den) 77 68
146 J Harding (RSA) 71 75, M Schmitt (Ger) 71 75, M Kawamura (Jpn) 73 73, J Veerman (USA) 73 73, B Wiesberger (Aut) 75 71, G Fernandez-Castaño (Esp) 75 71, R Roussel (Fra) 75 71, D Perrier (Fra) 76 70, S Valimaki (Fin) 77 69
147 J Campillo (Esp) 69 78, P Angles (Esp) 70 77, S Brown (Eng) 73 74, M Kieffer (Ger) 73 74, B Stow (Eng) 74 73, A Bjork (Swe) 74 73, D Horsey (Eng) 74 73, P Oriol (Esp) 75 72, W Besseling (Ned) 75 72, S Garcia Rodriguez (Esp) 76 71, N Elvira (Esp) 77 70
148 T Bjorn (Den) 72 76, D Coupland (Eng) 72 76, Jonathan Caldwell (NIR) 73 75, R Wattel (Fra) 74 74, J Hansen (Den) 74 74, J Kruger (RSA) 74 74, J Guerrier (Fra) 74 74, B Evans (Eng) 75 73, R Jacquelin (Fra) 75 73, G Havret (Fra) 75 73, C Pigem (Esp) 75 73, A Wu (Chn) 77 71, A Otaegui (Esp) 77 71, R Santos (Por) 78 70, J Luiten (Ned) 79 69
149 T Tree (Eng) 72 77, T Olesen (Den) 72 77, E Ferguson (Sco) 73 76, A Garcia-Heredia (Esp) 75 74, M Southgate (Eng) 76 73, B Easton (RSA) 76 73, E Molinari (Ita) 76 73, L Westwood (Eng) 76 73, F Laporta (Ita) 76 73, R Sciot-Siegrist (Fra) 76 73, J Lagergren (Swe) 77 72, R MacIntyre (Sco) 80 69
150 R Hojgaard (Den) 71 79, A Saddier (Fra) 73 77, P Waring (Eng) 73 77, W Ormsby (Aus) 74 76, A Levy (Fra) 75 75, J Gonnet (Fra) 75 75, C Howie (Sco) 75 75, M Schneider (Ger) 76 74, V Perez (Fra) 76 74, R Karlberg (Swe) 76 74, R Langasque (Fra) 77 73, R Bland (Eng) 78 72, G Forrest (Sco) 78 72, M Jordan (Eng) 81 69
151 S Soderberg (Swe) 73 78, A Sullivan (Eng) 73 78, R Gouveia (Por) 74 77, P Figueiredo (Por) 74 77, O Lengden (Swe) 75 76, E De La Riva (Esp) 75 76, Cormac Sharvin (NIR) 75 76, D Van Driel (Ned) 76 75, R Paratore (Ita) 77 74, J Scrivener (Aus) 79 72
152 K Samooja (Fin) 73 79, B Hebert (Fra) 74 78, J Stalter (Fra) 76 76, J Sjoholm (Swe) 76 76, S Kim (USA) 76 76
153 A Pavan (Ita) 73 80, J Olazábal (Esp) 74 79, B Stone (RSA) 74 79, M Antcliff (Aus) 80 73
154 M Pavon (Fra) 74 80, T Pulkkanen (Fin) 75 79, S Vincent (Zim) 75 79, J Walters (RSA) 77 77, C Hill (Sco) 77 77, A Mueller-baumgart (Am) (Esp) 77 77, R Enoch (Wal) 79 75
156 L Scalise (Ita) 78 78, N Bertasio (Ita) 79 77, G Porteous (Eng) 79 77, M Kinhult (Swe) 80 76, E Cuartero Blanco (Esp) 80 76
157 Z Murray (Aus) 77 80, Gavin Moynihan (Irl) 79 78, S Sharma (Ind) 81 76, E Rousaud (Am) (Esp) 83 74
158 T Gandy (Imn) 78 80, M Armitage (Eng) 79 79, A Del Rey (Esp) 80 78, P Hanson (Swe) 81 77
159 S Del Val (Esp) 79 80, K Broberg (Swe) 81 78
160 B Virto (Esp) 76 84, A Meronk (Pol) 78 82
161 A Romero (Arg) 82 79, L Van Meijel (Ned) 85 76, A Karlsson (Swe) 85 76
162 D Howell (Eng) 78 84, N Lemke (Swe) 85 77
163 I Cantero Gutierrez (Esp) 86 77
167 M Campbell (Nzl) 82 85,
RET H Li (Chn) Rt , J Smith (Eng) Rt , S Crocker (USA) Rt , K Reitan (Nor) Rt
WD Z Lombard (RSA) Wd
