Larranaga Master in France

Eduardo Larranaga (left) (c) Agathe Séron

Basque Eduardo Larranaga won maiden title in France with -6 total. He led from the very first round of Master 13 with great 65 opening round and kept his hands on the trophy until very last hole.

Larranaga, 28 year old, lead from A to Z the 12^th Masters 13. He was brilliant during first round with a seven under par card and kept on playing very solid while his opponent could not catch him. The final round was played with two club wind and the Basque had up to 5 shot lead.

“I really start to think on the victory at the 10^th because I holed a huge putt, more than 15 maybe 20 meters and it really made me feel comfortable. Dominique was playing very well but we had made the same mistake on the 9^th and both had dropped a shot.”

“I was nervous at the end. I saw on the 16^th leaderboard that Kevin was -4. I made a double bogey on the 17^th but I still had a two shot lead. I hit a iron from 18^th tee shot, then another one to the middle of the fairway. I holed for par and that was enough.”

His playing partner and compatriot Borja Etchart did not have a good round but seemed very happy for his friend.

Last man of the last group, France’s Dominique Nouailhac, former winner in Pont Royal, (2009) always loved the course and his experience is a real asset with the wind and the sloppy greens. He eventually finished second tie with Belgium amateur Kevin Hesbois.

The latter had already won a tournament this season, the Flory Van Donck trophy and he build his result on three cards under par out of four.

Austria’s Tobias Nemecz shot 68 for a 4^th place tie with Thomas Elissalde. They both earned precious points to confirm his place in top 5 Alps Tour ranking. The unlucky man of the week is Clément Berardo, he recorded a top 10 tie but this was not enough and he slept to the 6^th place of the ranking.

From Pont Royal
Agathe Séron

Larranaga holds firm on top

Eduardo Larranaga (c) Agathe Séron

Eduardo Larranaga, 28 year old, held firm in moving day in Masters 13. He shot one over par but his opponents did not shoot lower to catch him. He is -6 total and three players are -3 at second place, former winner France’s Dominique Nouailhac, Spain’s Borja Etchart and Italy’s Mattia Miloro.

Violent thunderstorm flooded the course during the night and tee times had been delayed by one hour and half to let the greenkeepers repaired the damages. After amazing work, the field could play in great conditions. The day was warm as sun came after night rain.

Despite these great conditions, none of the players in the two last groups shot under par. Jean-Pierre Verselin shot the best score of the day 66 with stunning hat trick of birdies from the 16^th. He almost gained 30 ranks in the leaderboard. Fellow Jean-Nicolas Billot, former Challenge Tour player signed for flawless 67 to catch 8^th place tie going into last round.

Larranaga kept his composure all day and deal with his new leader status quite easily.

“When you start a round in the first position you always feel the pressure. I keep my strategy, playing shot by shot and not to be too cautious. I already here last year and I like this course very much. I like the wind and the greens so all in all, I was confident since the beginning of the week.

On the 9^th, I had 200 meters for the green so I had to try. I missed the green on the left but I made a good chip to one meter and holed for birdie.

On the 14^th, it was an important hole because I hit a good drive but I had a very poor second but I hit my third shot 3 meters to the pin and I holed the putt.

This year I won the French Q school in Cap d’Agde and I won a small two day event in Spain but I never won a 4 round tournament.

It will be great to play with Borja, he is a good friend and I am looking forward to play tomorrow.”

From Pont Royal
Agathe Séron

Half way lead for Larranaga

Eduardo Larranaga (c) Agathe Séron

Eduardo Larranaga confirmed his good form keeping the lead of Masters 13 thanks to 72 second round. With -7 total, he still have a four shot advantage over a group of 5 players at -3.

The sun was generous again in Provence and a one club wind made players remember the Mediterranean sea is not that far. Larranaga admitted his putting was not as sharp as the overnight.

“I had 33 putts so it was not really good but still I managed to stay on top of the leaderboard. I am very happy because this is the first time I will tee off in the leading group. I will try not to think about it and to stick to my game.”

His fellow Borja Virto fired the best score of the day, 66 to correct his first round 75.

“I feel pretty good about my round but this was a crazy day because, I lost my ball in the water hazard on the 9^th and I drove out of bounds on the 14^th but I managed to save par both time. Unfortunately I finished with bogey on the 18^th. My drive was good but I missed my second shot. And I got unlucky with the lie and I missed a short putt for par but after a bad round yesterday I am happy.”

Virto and Larranaga are friends, they drove together from Spain and share the same house this week with 3 other Spaniards.

Beside this Spanish duo, a french one with Clément Berardo and former European Tour player Anthony Snobeck. Berardo is chasing points to confirm his place in the final Top 5 Alps Tour ranking. He has his place on Challenge Tour so far with 4^th place.

Then, England’s Andrew Cooley and Italy’s Mattia Miloro are -3 as well. Cooley played the first nine 5 under but he dropped 3 shots on the 12^th then three others on, 13^th, 15^th and 17^th. He holed for birdie on the last hole to join the group at 2^nd place.

At Pont Royal
Agathe Séron

Huge advantage for Larranaga

The Basque Eduardo Larranaga (c) Matthieu Vitré

The Basque Eduardo Larranaga started in style the penultimate tournament of the season. He fired 65, 7 under par to take a huge four shot margin over English duo, Andrew Colley and Tom Sherreard.

It is still summer in south of France and the temperature warm with almost 24°. But the wind and the tricky Seve Ballesteros course of Pont Royal defended itself pretty well as only 12 players out of 108 shot under par. The projected cut after one round is +2.

Larranaga had a perfect day with 5 birdies and one eagle. He did not make any mistake.

“I really played well today, long game as well as my putting. At 17^th for example, I hit my drive but I landed in the bunker but I made a great bunker shot, 2 meters of the pin. That was really a pleasure to play today!”

Alps Tour ranking leader, Nino Bertasio, signed for 71 as well as 4^th man in the order of merit, France’s Clément Berardo.

But Berardo needs a good result in Provence as his compatriot Thomas Elissalde and Austria’s Tobias Nemecz are a couple of hundred euros behind. Elissalde shot level par and Nemecz one over.