José Manuel Garrido
José Manuel Garrido of Colombia and Argentina’s Nelson Ledesma went bogey-free this morning on their way to a strong opening day performance of 7-under par 65 and a two-way tie for the lead of the Pacific Colombia Tour Championship presented by Helm.
Although it didn’t rain and the conditions were good to start the event co-sanctioned by the Tour de las Americas and the Canadian Tour, the Club Campestre Guaymaral’s Course No. 1 played soft and open to low scores because of the heavy rains of the past few days. The competitors of the US $130,000 event were allowed to lift, clean and replace their ball on the fairways.
Only a step behind the co-leaders, the second place at 66 is shared by Argentina’s Maxi Godoy, Puerto Rico’s Rafael Campos, Canada’s Adam Hadwin and Chile’s Hugo León. Another stroke further behind, there’s a tie for the seventh spot featuring Colombia’s Manuel Merizalde and Jesús Rivas, Argentina’s Manuel Relancio, Venezuela’s Wolmer Murillo and the USA’s Peter Laws. A grand total of 78 players finished the day with scores under par.
No. 4 on the TLA Order of Merit last season, Garrido is definitely enjoying his best days as a professional player. He started the day off the tenth tee and shot 33 on the back nine with birdies on 11, 12 and 17. After paring the first three holes on the front nine, he charged by going birdie-par-birdie-birdie-birdie between holes 4 and 8 for a 32.
“It was one of those rounds in which I only missed one or two greens. I kept the ball on the fairway all day, never got in trouble and had many birdie chances,” said the 32-year old from the Club Campestre de Cali.
Garrido missed last week’s event in Barranquilla to go back home and work on his putting, a decision that proved right today. “In Medellin (two weeks ago) I had a chance to win, but my putter failed me. I thought it was better to go back to Cali, see my teacher and work on it. I made a few changes on my putting, including the grip and the risk was worth it today. I don’t really expect to win because I’m in the middle of an adjustment, but if I play well and win that would be great,” he added.
Starting the day with a birdie on the first hole, Ledesma also birdied holes 7, 8, 10 and 15 to get to 5-under for the day. Then he went on to take advantage of the par-five 17, where he hit a 225-yard 6-iron second shot within twelve feet and sank the eagle putt to catch Garrido.
“It was a really nice day. I played the putter very well and struck the ball great, especially on my second shots. It was a flawless round,” commented the 20-year old, named 2010 TLA Rookie of the Year after claiming three fourth-place finishes and missing only one cut in eleven starts last year.
Following his dramatic win last Sunday in Barranquilla, Cody Slover of the U.S. couldn’t keep his pace and carded an erratic 4-over par 76. It proved costly, as he fell way behind into a tie for the
