Maiden win for Delpodio

Matteo Delpodio won his maiden victory as professional. He eagled the last hole to grab the trophy by one stroke over Spanish Jordi Garcia Del Moral.

It could have been a beautiful win Spanish side. Jordi Garcia Del had a 3 stroke advantage teeing off this morning. Delpodio started with a birdy but 2 holes later his friend Jordi holed to keep power. Turning first nine, Garcia Del Moral still had 2 strokes margin. At this time, the show was not in the leader group. Few holes ahead, another Spanish player was lighting fire on greens. Carlos Del Moral, European Tour player in 2009, holed 7 birdies on the front nine. He birdied every hole except par 3. He said he “offered” the tournament on the 17th hole.

“This hole is tough. Long par 3 over the water, I was 4 meters short of the flag, good shot but many things crossed my mind and I was nervous and impatient since the 10th hole. I made four putts on the 17th… and let victory gone…”

Meanwhile, nothing happened on leaders side until this famous 17th hole. Garcia Del Moral still had 2 shots clear of Delpodio, he missed the green and luck changed its mind.

At this time, Matteo Delpodio was about to grave his name on the book of the most beautiful way to catch a win. He was still one stroke behind teeing off the last hole. He drove perfectly and found the middle of the fairway. So did Jordi, 10 meters shorter so he played first. Spanish missed the green. Then, Delpodio fired the most astonishing 2 iron. His ball landed 2 meters from the flag under crowd applauses. He did a determinated fist pump and walked head high to the green. All Italian players were there, crossing fingers and whispering how it would be great to see their “budy” win.

Jordi Garcia Del Moral hit a chip a little to long stopping in small rough. He stayed short on his fourth shot and then opened the door…

“It is golf, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, today, I lost but I feel confident, I putt for birdy almost on every hole. On 17th I missed the green on the left, chipped long twice and dropped one shot. On the 18th, Matteo did a spectacular eagle. I can not complain. Finishing second in a tournament where Canonica, Lara and Del Moral are playing is an honour. I am very happy for Matteo”.

Matteo Delpodio took his stance quietly while spectators stopped breathing. He holed and a roar climbed for Italian team. They congratulaled their fellow. Matteo kept on smiling and hugged every one on his way to recording. Even if he had just take the win from local player, Spanish spectators were seduced. TV, pictures and price giving, after 3 years as professional, the 24 year old Italian enjoyed his win.

“ As I had said on the first day, it is a question of time. Being patient, agree to wait. Once you are OK with that, good things obviously are going to happen. Today, I stay patient, I had a little luck on the 17th because Jordi dropped one shot and when I hit the second shot on the 18th par 5, I was only thinking about the flag. I had about 2 meters to hole to win but I never though missing it. When you hit such a good shot (2 iron) you can not miss the putt. The first win is difficult to get, but once it’s done…”

Delpodio took the lead of the Alps Tour order of merit ahead of English Lawrence Dodd and Scottish Gavin Dear.

At Valencia
Agathe Séron