Félix was back in Portugal the day after the final round of the Big Green Egg German Challenge in Germany. A tournament he finished in a fine 12th place (-9), after coming within 1 shot of the cut. He tells us all about it.
I did everything right in the fourth round. I got close to the flags and hit a lot of putts from less than 4 meters, which was cool. I hit my best shot of the week on a flag at 186 meters with a tree in the line of play. I had to play a high draw ball and I gave it away. Playing -7 and moving up 26 places on Sunday is one of the best sensations in competitive golf.
I got off to a good start with a -3 in the first round, which put me 13th. But it's true that I had a very average second round (+2), which meant I missed the cut by just one shot. I started with 3 putts on holes 1 and 2, got frustrated and broke my putter. As a result, I had to putt with my sandwedge for 7 holes. You never train to putt with a wedge! In the end, I didn't do too badly.
The third round was strange. I got off to a complicated start with a bogey to start with, a loose ball in the green bunker. I followed that up with a par and then a good birdie. Everything could have changed on the par-4 4th hole. It's a very tight course with lots of trees coming back towards the fairway. I took a branch on my tee shot and the ball came back into a bush 50 meters from the tee. Unplayable. I drop it, with 350 meters to go to the green. I hit 6 iron, 9 iron and putt. This very good bogey set me up for the rest of the day. I made a good return but the putts weren't falling. I could just as easily have played +3 as -3. That's golf!
I had a fairly average start to the season, but then I had a really good period, finishing 8 or 9 weeks with top 10s and top 20s. I came very close to winning in Austria. In the last round, I missed a putt for an eagle on hole 15, which would have put me in the lead. I didn't know the leaderboard at the time, so I thought I was further back. It was windy and I didn't manage the last 3 holes very well. I made 3 bogeys when 3 pars would have been enough to win. In short, I had a hard time digesting that sequence, because with a win, I was guaranteed a place on the DP World Tour.
We need to move on and bounce back. At the same time, the closer we get to the end of the season, the more we think about the final standings. That inevitably adds to the pressure, and it's an extra parameter to manage.
As far as the game is concerned, everything's going well. The long game is well in place, and it's putting that makes the difference between a good tournament and a not-so-good one. My average score is 1 shot lower than last year. I thought that would be enough to move up to the next level, but you also have to manage to string together 4 good rounds. A first-place finish is worth 10 times more points than a top 15 finish. The way points are calculated favors big performances to the detriment of consistency.
I've just arrived in Portugal for the Portuguese Open. It's a course I really like, and I can't wait to play it. My family came to cheer me on, which will help. Then I'm not going to play Italy because the prize money is bigger, which will attract a lot of players. I'd rather recuperate before going to China and play Switzerland and maybe the Czech Republic. The tour of China is very demanding, as you have to deal with the time difference. After that, the top 45 players go on to play the final in Mallorca, where points are doubled. The top 20 after Mallorca move up to the DP World Tour. If that doesn't work out, I'll play the PQ3 cards, which also offer an opportunity to move up.
© 2026 Inesis
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