Ahead of the Challenge de España, we caught up with 26 year old Borja Virto, for whom this week’s tournament is not just on home soil but, taking place at Izki Golf, is a proper home event.
Usually we would start by saying, ‘Welcome to the Challenge de España,’ but this time it’s you who is welcoming us…
“Yes I suppose so! I know this place pretty well. I haven’t been here for maybe around eight years now, but I grew up playing a lot of golf here – home for me is only about an hour away. We used to play a lot of local tournaments here when I was growing up so I’ve played here a lot, it’s sort of like home.”
And it gives you the opportunity to play in front of people you know.
“Yes, I expect I’ll have my family and friends come down, at least for the weekend but maybe for the first two days as well if they can, so that will be nice.”
Does that add any pressure, performing in front of people you are close to?
“It can do, but I think it’s a nice thing. When you’re on the course, if things are going well they will cheer for you and even if things are not going well, they will still cheer for you.
“I think it’s something that can help me keep going, and it doesn’t happen very often – I’ve never had a tournament at home, not like this. When we play in Spain we usually play in or near Barcelona or Madrid, which is quite far from here.
“My parents have come to watch me play but not many friends, and my grandparents are going to come so that will be really nice.”
How is your game at the moment?
“It’s been better! But I don’t know. Hopefully I can practise well and be ready to go for this week and play a good tournament.”
I must ask about the Rolex Trophy last month. You led by two shots going into the final round but had a difficult last day. How tough has it been to move past that experience?
“I don’t know, it was really hard. I was actually feeling pretty good before the round and I just had a really rough day. After that I haven’t been able to play that well really. It’s been tough but I think I am better now and hopefully things can change for good this week.”
It is important to move on from that, too, because we are now at the time in the year where a good result can make a big difference.
“Yes, it will be a nice turning point. Right after this we’ve got four very big events to end the season where anything can happen so this is definitely the right moment to have a good week.”
And you still have a bit of work to do to make sure you are there for all of it.
“Yes, I’m not quite in the Grand Final yet so I need to pick up some more points. This is a nice event for me, almost at home, so it would be great to have a good week here.”
It’s an interesting course here…
“It is! It’s got a couple of tricky holes. I was remembering yesterday how it was and it is the same course as I used to play, not many changes, though obviously it plays differently for me now compared to when I was a teenager. It’s looking really good, the course set up is great, it looks beautiful.”
And how special is it for a Spaniard that it was designed by Seve Ballesteros?
“It is a very special thing. He’s got a lot of courses but it’s something very special when his name is on there.
“I’ve played a couple of his courses around here in the north part of Spain where you have mountains, like here, and usually you see some tricky holes – I can’t tell if it’s Seve’s style or if it’s just where the course is that he cannot really do something else.
“But I think it is Seve’s touch – he had this different vision for golf and how it could be played and you can see that here at Izki, and I think that’s a really great thing.”
