Hometown hero looking for birthday boost
Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano is hoping to celebrate his birthday with a European Tour victory at the Madrid Open in his home town this week.
Fernandez-Castano, who was born and bred in the Spanish capital, turns 27 on Saturday and would love to be holding aloft the trophy the following day in a tournament promoted by his idol, Seve Ballesteros.
Two years ago Fernandez-Castano followed in the footsteps of Ballesteros by claiming his maiden title in the KLM Open, just as Ballesteros had done nearly two decades earlier in 1976.
That victory helped the 26-year-old claim the 2005 Rookie of the Year Award and he has since won twice more on the tour, including this year’s Italian Open.
“Playing in my home town this week will be great, I am looking forward to playing on home soil,” he said.
“This is my sixth week in a row and I am starting to feel tiredness but I won’t complain because one of the six weeks was the Seve Trophy and that was a great experience. Plus, Seve is organising the tournament this week, and you can’t say no to Seve.
“Everyone knows that he is everything for Spanish golf. He is my idol and you could probably say that I wouldn’t be playing golf if it wasn’t for Seve.
“Being in his team at the Seve Trophy was an amazing experience for me. To be able to pick his brains and see how he works and thinks was absolutely amazing.
“It’s my birthday this Saturday as well and I promised Seve that I would invite him to my birthday dinner in Madrid.”
While several of the tour’s star names contest the HSBC Match Play at Wentworth, those in Madrid have other goals in mind.
Only four events remain and players are chasing a place in the top 20 in the Order of Merit to earn a place in next year’s Open Championship, a top-60 place to get into the season-ending Volvo Masters and, for many in Madrid, a place in the top 115 to secure their playing privileges for another season.
