Algarve and Portugal golfing number one Ricardo Santos’ participation in last weekend’s €2.1 million Welsh Open also marked the beginning of the European 2014 Ryder Cup team qualification phase.
New captain Paul McGinley’s statement that promising rookies would not be overlooked as long as they were playing well has fuelled Santos’ Ryder Cup dream. “To become the first Portuguese to play for the team will be good for me but also for Portugal, and for all the youngsters to see that everything is possible,” said Santos.
The 29-year-old from Faro made a steady one-under-par start at Celtic Manor and managed to make the cut despite a second round of 76. A hole-in-one on day three should have led to a better score than 73, and a closing 75 left Santos with a share of 64th place. No doubt he will be hoping to find more consistency at this weekend’s European Open in Switzerland in order to move a little closer to realising his dream.
