At the European Tour’s Qatar Masters on Sunday it looked like the Spanish Armada was attacking this
small Persian Gulf country. Alvaro Quiros led the charge and finished at nineteen under to claim the title for Spain. In fact four of the top ten finishers hailed from Spain. Miguel Angel Jiménez was tied for fifth and his countrymen Gonzalo Fdez-Castaňo and Sergio Garcia tied for tenth.
It was the twenty-six year olds third Euro Tour victory and probably earned him his first masters invite. Quiros is a long hitter, he averaged 315 yard off the tee, but his key to victory was the way he played the closing holes. For the tournament he was eight under par over the last three holes. That helped him recover from a bogey on fifteen coming down the stretch. None of the other top ten finishers played the final holes nearly as well.
The Spanish Armada could grow to be an intimidating force in golf. At this tournament these four players had world rankings of; Quiros at 74, Jiménez at 26, Fdez-Castaňo at 80 and the world number two Sergio. Garcia is 28 years old has shown that he his ready to be the best and leads the other twenty something Spaniards. Miguel Angel Jiménez has been playing his best golf lately and at 44 is beating kids half his age.
The camaraderie among the Spanish players was obvious as they all waited at the green for Quiros finish so they could celebrate. If the younger players continue to improve and Garcia keeps his putter under control, along with Jimenez’s stellar play Spain will be making plenty of noise this season.
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