Mal día para los latinos (SPA-ENG)

Bad day for Latinos

Yesterday, we had two very important commitments for the sport in this part of the world. On the one hand, Franco Colapinto was making his Alpine debut and qualifying for his first Grand Prix, this time in Emilia Romagna in northern Italy. On the other hand, thousands of miles to the west, though in the same northern hemisphere, Johnattan Vegas was defending his first position in the PGA Championship, the second major tournament of the year, of the four that make up the golf calendar of the most important tour in the world.

During his final attempt at a fast lap in Q1, Franco couldn't control his car at the exit of the Tamburello chicane, the place where the extraordinary Ayrton Senna lost his life more than 30 years earlier. His car touched the curb with its rear wheels, became unstable, spun, and, with no chance of controlling it, crashed into the fenders. He did the one thing he wasn't supposed to do: crash. In any case, his time from the previous start was enough to advance to Q2, which he couldn't make due to a badly damaged car. It was enough for him to start 15th in today's race, although a one-position penalty for leaving the pits before the marshals' authorization cost him a spot on the starting grid.

In Charlotte, Venezuelan Jhonattan Vegas had the privilege of being first on the leaderboard with -8 strokes at the start of the "Moving Day" round, as the third day of competition in a golf tournament is known. Many take advantage of the day to try to get closer to the front of the field for a chance to fight for the title on Sunday, the tournament's final day.

He had a two-stroke lead over his closest rivals, France's Matthieu Pavon and Britain's Matt Fitzpatrick. The latter was the only one of the top players on that leaderboard to have won a major tournament, the 2022 US Open, although he has slowed down somewhat since last year and hasn't had any notable performances.

Vegas started the third round nervously. He missed his tee shots on holes one and two, making bogeys on both and losing his lead. This tough start made me think he would crumble.

However, he continued to show that he has the character and spirit to fight. Many others in his place would have become discouraged and turned their round into a disaster. However, the Venezuelan improved his tee shots and even managed to regain first place at one point during the round, recovering both lost shots. However, he couldn't maintain them, and two more bogeys on the final holes left him at -6, where he finished the day.

Another competitor coming from behind took advantage of a difficult day due to the strong wind that crossed the course throughout the afternoon. This was especially true for the world's top-ranked player, American Scottie Scheffler, who, with a masterful round of -6 strokes, took first place with a total score of -11, three ahead of the surprising runner-up, Alex Noren of Sweden. Noren, who has yet to win a single PGA Tour title, played brilliantly yesterday to also achieve a -6 for the round and an -8 overall score.

Behind Scheffer and Noren are two players at -7 and several at -6, including Venezuela's Vegas and the winner of two majors and 11 PGA Tour wins, Spaniard Jon Rahm.

It will be difficult for Scheffer to let the title slip away, as he demonstrates great determination and exceptional play, especially when he takes the lead in a tournament, which is exactly what is happening now. In any case, in golf, the final word is never said, and we'll have to wait until this afternoon to find out who wins the Wanamaker Trophy.

Let's hope Vegas puts yesterday's bad afternoon aside and can put up a fight, at least winning a good tournament, which we know isn't easy at 40 years of age.

I also hope Colapinto recovers from that misstep and gets a good result today that will allow him to turn the page and capitalize on the mistake to try to prevent it from happening again.