December 30, 2013 – In 2012 the honour went to Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño, but in 2013 we can consider Pablo Larrazabal (sponsored by Callaway Golf and Lyle & Scott) as the most complete Spanish golfer on the 2013 European Tour. By a narrow gap of points has been escorted on the podium by Alejandro Canizares (Ping and Ocho Golf) and Sergio Garcia (TaylorMade Golf and adidas Golf).

Now that the 2013 season has finished, it is time to take stock of the last year. Along with the Ranking of the Spanish golfers at the Race to Dubai 2013, led by Gonzalo Fernandez Castaño (Cleveland Golf – Srixon and Polo Ralph Lauren), top of the money list thanks to the only Spanish victory on the 2013 European Tour, at the BMW Masters of Shanghai, here’s the result of MyGolfWay.com’s original analysis of the European Tour official statistics provided by Genworth Financial, which allow us to make an assessment of the performance of Spanish professionals, and to declare the best Spanish golf all-rounder of the year on Tour.

Looking closely at the statistics

With the focus set on the 2013 European Tour, this is the second year that MyGolfway.com has produced the ranking of the most complete Spanish golfer of the season in this Tour, an honour that goes to Pablo Larrazabal thanks to his 575 points, as a result of the sum of his places in each of the different statistical categories of the Genworth Financial.

Although he hasn’t won any tournament, the Barcelona player has had a great season, and has been very close to victory several times (fourth in The Irish Open and the Trophée Hassan II, and fifth in the BMW Masters and Volvo China Open), adding eight Top-10 in the 31 events he played. The main argument for which he has been boosted to the leadership of our specific ranking is his consistency across the skills of the game, which puts him around 40th to 60th place in almost statistical rankings, highlighted by the 9th European place for Putts per Greens in Regulation as his strongest skill, while the weakest was the 170th European place in Driving Accuracy. There is no doubt, however, that Pablo has improved on his performance of the game in comparison with 2012, when he achieved 606 points and was second in our ranking.

Another player who has also improved on last year is Alejandro Canizares who, with 581 points, is only 6 points behind Pablo. This very small gap also highlights his great season, which includes his two fourth places at the Omega European Masters and especially at the BMW PGA Championship, in 28 tournaments played. He was third in our ranking of 2012 with 637 points, and in 2013 Cañizares has become more consistent, with the 23th European place in Putts per Green in Regulation as his strongest skill, and the 136th place in Driving Distance as the weak point of his game.

Third in our 2013 ranking with 589 points, only 14 and 8 points behind Larrazabal and Cañizares, is Sergio Garcia. More focused on the PGA Tour, he has only played 13 tournaments on the 2013 European Tour, with statistics which are also worthy of admiration. Second in the Qatar Masters and third in the WGC Cadillac Championship, he has played all four Majors, achieved five Tour Top-10 finishes, and has past the cut in all European events played. He also repeats as the best Spanish player in Stroke Average (70,40), moving up from the 42th place in 2012 to the 14th place in 2013 in the European rank. His poorest statistics, while not being at all bad, are Driving Accuracy (113th) and Sand Saves (119th).

And the ever-young Miguel Angel Jimenez (Ping and Lacoste) comes fourth of our 2013 ranking with 644 points. That means only four points more than in the same fourth position of our 2012 ranking (640 points), which is outstanding, considering his injury earlier in the season. As is usual in his game, he has showed superb approach, placed 10th European in Scrambles and the best Spanish player, and the 11th European in Putts per Round.

Jose Manuel Lara (TaylorMade Golf and Lacoste) deserves a special mention for his 2nd European position at Sand Saves, along with the long hitter Alvaro Quiros (Callaway Golf) for his 3rd European place at Driving Distance, and Eduardo de la Riva (Callaway Golf and Lacoste) as the Spanish leader in Greens in Regulation (9th European) and Driving Accuracy (17th European).

Por REDACCIÓN