I Heart Alvaro Quiros

Posted Feb 15 2011, 08:41 AM by Cathy Erickson
You go out and win a golf tournament with some of the world’s best golfers in it and your story is buried behind the Tiger Woods spitting scandal...and behind the will Tiger ever win again saga.  Life just isn’t fair sometimes.  Well I am happy to dedicate my little blog spot to Alvaro Quiros and to congratulate him on winning the Dubai Desert Classic last weekend.

I have been a fan of Quiros for a few years now.  My brother introduced me to him while doing our weekly fantasy golf picks and I've been hooked ever since.  What's to like about Quiros?  Well, he's cute & charming (okay, I realize that doesn't register for everyone, but it's true!), he's a Callaway loyalist, he seems to love the game, and the guy can hit the ball a mile.
 
Back when Hazeltine hosted the 2009 PGA Championship, my brother and I made a point of going to see him hit a few drives.  As I was sitting in the grand stands on 9 & 18 during Wednesday's practice round I saw players coming up on 9.  Two of them hit their approach shots and then they all started walking...I'd guess it was 80 yards later, they stopped again and Quiros hit his approach into the green...unbelievable.
 
Quiros is a full-time European Tour player but he does head over to the US for some tournaments.  In 2010, he played 3 WGC Events, all of the Majors, the Players, and believe it or not, the Waste Management Open (where were you THIS year, Alvaro??!!).  He missed the cut in the 3 US Majors but had a nice T11 finish at the British Open...he also had a T6 finish at the 2010 WGC-CA Championship.
 
There's not a ton of information about Quiros on the US golf sites since he's not an official PGA Tour player, and his official web site is in Spanish. But in a few articles I did find, I learned that this 29-year old turned Pro in 2004 and has been a full-time player on the European Tour since 2007, chalking up a win in each of the years since joining that Tour...including winning his first entered tournament (the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa) as a European Tour Player in 2007...not a bad way to start a career!
 
His win at Dubai on Sunday vaulted him up to 21st on the World Golf Ranking (his highest ranking ever) and puts him on top of the Race to Dubai money list.
 
It seems that Quiros shares the same struggle as many other long bombers have...staying out of trouble.  In one article I read, Sergio Garcia, a friend of Quiros, said that Quiros' biggest challenge it to keep the ball on the golf course.  I guess that could be why he struggled at the Majors here.  
 
At the Omega Dubai Desert Classic he had rounds of 73-68-68-68 to win by 1 shot over James Kingston.  Sounds like a boring score, right?  Oh no, this guy knows how to make a fun scorecard!!
 
Over the 4 rounds, Quiros carded 15 birdies, 4 bogeys, 2 eagles (one on a par-4), a triple, a quad, and a nice little hole-in-one in the last round.  The triple, which also came in the last round, came about when Quiros had to take a penalty because his drive got lodged in a palm tree.  Two holes later he aces the 161-yard par-3 11th hole with a pitching wedge (a three-quarter pitching wedge, I love it!!).  He certainly knows how to keep things exciting.
 
And how do you not love this quote that I found in the http://www.dailymail.co.uk/ after his win in Dubai:   Looking at his score of 68, to win on 11 under par, the game's longest hitter laughed and said: 'I'm fighting to become more consistent but it is clearly impossible for me.'
 
Quiros deserves the spotlight and the accolades that come with winning...congratulations Alvaro!!
 
I'll be looking forward to seeing what else he can accomplish in 2011.

Filed under: Cathy Erickson, Majors, Alvaro Quiros, Dubai Desert Classic