Alvaro Quiros Shoots a Magical Sunday 61 to Win the WGC-CA Championship

After watching Alvaro Quiros play golf on Saturday afternoon, it occurred to me that he could shoot the lights out on Sunday and win the WGC-CA at Doral. This is his first stroke-play event in America after playing in only the WGC- Accenture Match Play two weeks ago.

Alvaro, a Spaniard, has that golfing charisma that America is only beginning to discover. Tall and good-looking as all the women here at Doral will tell you he reminds you of Greg Norman in that regard.

His putting reminds me of Johnny Miller in the '70s, when he made anything he looked at. His driving capacity is like that of Tiger Woods. He is the complete package and could go real low on Sunday to take this championship out of the grasp of Phil Mickelson and Nick Watney.

Let’s take a look back at Saturday’s round to get an inside-the-ropes feel for this emerging golfing superstar. Then we will construct the fantasized round of 61 that may very well materialize in a matter of hours on the Blue Monster.

‘WHACK’ was the sound made as Quiros’ driver smashed the ball off the tee on the straight-away 529-yard par-five first hole at 1:20 PM EST on Saturday, Mar. 14, 2009.

The whack was immediately was immediately followed by the oohs-and-ahs of the spectators in the surrounding stand and one loud “El Grande.” The colorful flags of 20 countries rippled in the wind nearby representing all 80 international participants in this world golf championship.

As Quiros emerged from the shoot at the first tee I wondered if he would emerge triumphantly with a victory on Sunday afternoon.

The relatively short first hole was playing down-wind or as they say here in south Florida down-hurricane. The yet unnamed Quiros has that swagger of the named fellow countryman “El Nino.”

Confident in appearance and stride yet deservingly so because of the demonstrated skills and finesse. With only 188-yards left to the hole, Quiros was long right leaving himself a chip with his putter from the fringe a distance of 55 feet.

After a so-so chip putt he converted the remaining six-footer to begin his Saturday round with a birdie.

His drive down the middle flew so far on the 376-yard par-four second hole that he ended up in the front greenside bunker. The difficult long sand shot of 19-yards checked up on impact leaving him a 46-foot putt for birdie. He rammed it up the hill and by the hole but converted the six-footer for par coming back.

Defending champion Geoff Ogilvy passed by on his way from the 16th green to the 17th tee. Gauging by the early morning tee time his defense of the title is not proceeding according to plan.

The three-time winner on the European Tour played the difficult 438-yard par-four dog-leg-right third hole flawlessly. His caddie commented that “a low one would be good here” but responded with “beauty” after he hits a high one onto the fairway a long ways from the tee box.

No need to play his “strip club” on this hole as demonstrated by Henrik Stenson earlier in the week. His iron shot from 138-yards stopped six-feet from the back-left hole location. He calmly stroked the putt in the hole for his second birdie of the day.

A huge gallery was flowing up the adjacent 14th fairway. The prelude to seeing Tiger Woods coming off the teeing area. This is world championship golf and newcomer Alvaro Quiros is on the big stage.

On the tough 236-yard par-three fourth hole with green sloping right to the water his iron shot was on line but long. His lag putt of 48-feet ran out of speed leaving him a five-footer for par which he converted.

On the dog-leg left 394-yard par four fifth hole his towering drive carried the left fairway bunker complex and ended up short right of the green. His 59-yard pitch shot settled down three feet from the hole.

After making the birdie putt Alvaro was three-under par after five holes and off to a good start. Is he on the way to his second consecutive 64 this afternoon?

With only 138 yards to the hole on the 442-yard par-four dog-leg-left sixth hole Quiros has another good birdie opportunity. His approach shot leaves a putt of 20 feet though he is notable to convert this one for birdie.

The 2009 Qatar Masters champion pulls his drive slightly on the 428-yard dog-leg-left par-four seventh hole. His line of play is to cut the corner over the palm trees. The ball hits the cart path and bounces straight ending just short of the green in the left rough a distance of 398 yards from the tee.

The chip is too aggressive and runs pass the back right hole location and through the green leaving a 20-foot re-chip. The next shot almost goes in but the end result is a tap-in par.

The Spaniard shows his feistiness on the long 560-yard par-five eighth hole. After a long drive he is left with approximately a 250-yard carry-over-water into-the-wind three wood. His trajectory is low but the line is slightly right and the ball runs out of air and finds the water.

Brilliantly he recovers with a 75-yard pitch after a penalty drop and converts a 12-footer to save par. Courageous yet a scrambler when needed is this talented and determined golfer.

On the par-three 169-yard ninth hole Alvaro hits a six-iron into the wind and carries the left front bunker. He is still short of the green in the rough 54 feet from the back left hole location. His chip stops six feet short of the hole.

He converts the par putt to finish the front nine in 33 strokes, three-under par. His stats look reasonable to this point. He hot five of seven fairways, six greens, got it up-and-down two out of three times and needed 15 putts. He is indeed the “Scrambling Spaniard.”

Looking ahead to Sunday and that magical 61 to win the WGC-CA Championship...He will need to shoot a five-under par 31 on the front side. I see him reaching No. 1 in two shots and converting a medium length putt for eagle. He will birdie Nos. 3, 7, and 8. He needs to stay away from bogeys.

Through Saturday, his only missteps on the front nine were on Monday where he bogeyed No. 2 and double-bogeyed No. 6.

With two of the first three holes being par-5s, Quiros is excited to start the back nine. So excited on his second shot into the 551-yard par-five 10th hole that his playing partner Rod Pampling has to yell over for him to stop because a caddie is “still in the bunker.”

Unfazed Alvaro backs off, waits a few moments for the caddie to finish raking the bunker, and then lasers an iron shot that stops just short of the humped green. He chips to five feet.

Thinking he has not missed anything of consequence all day, he misses this makable birdie putt. A chink in the armor like the watered second shot on the eighth hole.

There is a good size gallery around the tenth green. With Tiger finished playing golf for the day his large gallery has now redistributed itself around the golf course. Quiros is popular with the Spanish-speaking galleries in Miami. On the way to the 11th tee, a pretty young woman on the rope line smiles and says “Ola.”

He is a conquistador, a matador in physique and style much to the pleasure of adoring women.       

No. 11 is a beautiful looking par-four with a split fairway. White sand bunkers left of the left fairway and in the middle. A lone palm tree gracefully arches slightly right out of the middle beach calling to say “hit me if you can.”

Quiros whacks another one this time flying it about 320 yards perfectly down the left fairway leaving an 80-yard wedge into the green. His approach is to 14 feet and he converts to birdie the hole for the third straight day.

The tees are up on the 551-yard straight-away par-five 12th hole making it easily approachable in two swings. The iron from 183 yards is less than one foot short and Quiros is left with a “fried-egg” lie in the front bunker.

He blasts out to 14 feet and makes the putt for his fifth birdie of the day.

On the 245-yard par-three 13th hole, Quiros hits a five-iron long right into a sand bunker. Everyone else is hitting three and four-irons except, Dustin Johnson, who hit a six-iron. The 26-year old golfer is “masterful” with his sand wedge almost holing it from the back bunker.

After a good drive on the 460-yard slight dog-leg-left par-four 14th, he is left with a 132-yard approach shot from the right center portion of the fairway. His iron is long to the back fringe from where he chip-putts it for a tap-in par.

On the 175-yard par-three 15th, Alvaro hits an eight-iron but pulls it well left onto the grassy tongue of the bunker. Able to take a normal stance his chip is heavy and the flopped shot stops 21 feet from the hole.

He misses the par save and suffers his first bogey of the day at a time when birdie was needed to get within one shot of the lead. Instead of a two-way tie for third he falls to a five-way tie for fourth place. One stroke is critical at this level of competition.

The short 372-yard par-four dog-leg-left 16th is a definite birdie opportunity for this long hitter. His drive in the right rough is only 18 yards from the hole. The pitch is decent, but the 12-foot birdie putt violently lips out right and Quiros has to settle for a par.

Pros always try to follow a bogey with a birdie but this young pro is not able to do that here.

The 419-yard par-four 17th is another good birdie opportunity for long bombers like this Callaway tour player. His drive flies way right though he is left with a reasonable recovery iron to the green.

The big Mo-Jo killer rears its ugly head on the green as he three-jacks from 45 feet again leaving his lag putt short and failing to convert the seven-foot par putt. Two bogeys in the last three holes is not the way to finish off a five-birdie start.

He crushes his drive on the Blue Monster signature finishing hole of 467 yards. His 186-yard approach iron finds sand right instead of water left. Again he is masterful out of the sand and makes the four-foot putt to save par and his round of three-under 69.

We all play could-have-should-have but realistically take away the two bogeys and convert the makable birdie putts on hole Nos. 6, 10, and 16 and the mistakes on seven and eight and make one long putt for birdie and there you have an idyllic 61.

On Sunday, I see a six-under 30 for Quiros on the back nine. His birdies will come early on Nos. 10-13. He will avenge the bogey on No. 15 with a deuce and birdie the short par-four 16th. He has the game to do it. The key will be to stay away from the bogey and worse.

A magical 61 on Sunday afternoon at Doral in the WGC-CA Championship and Alvaro Quiros will be ushered into the spotlight he so richly deserves. Good golfing, hit ‘em well Alvaro!