Jacobo Pastor, a golf monologue against the current

Jacobo Pastor does not go unnoticed on golf courses. With his gait it would be said that he is going strong, and that virtue that he has of saying everything he thinks can provoke passions and disappointments, although the latter will be among those who have not exchanged a word with him because when you do, he surprises you and You doubt if his profession is a golfer... or a monologue, since he is just as skilled with the approach as with the word. In any scenario, you have guaranteed laughter. And the stage he faces once again, with those skills, will be the Challenge Tour thanks to the ProSpain program.

Jacobo has been a very active boy since he was little, a bit of a non-conformist, capable of removing whatever is necessary to achieve his goals. And that's how he came to this world of golf, out of sheer stubbornness: “As a child I was very restless, one of those who never stop. Behind my house there was a golf course, GolfNet and my mother took me when I was three years old to see if I would calm down a bit. They said that I was too small to begin with and I sat down to cry until I managed to get them to give me a class. My teacher was Paco Zafra and he immediately realized how stubborn I was to get what I liked”.

"At three years old they said I was too young to begin with and I sat down crying until I got them to give me a class"

And that's how he managed to become a golfer, get into the national teams sharing games and anecdotes -some of them confessable and others not so much- with Carlos Pigem, Scott Fernández, Juan Sarasti... and while some of them decided to go off to study their career to the United States, he went against the current and enrolled in Economics in Madrid. “It was a disaster, I stopped playing to study or the other way around, no matter how much I said I was competing, I was just another student, they didn't make it easy for me, but at home they were determined that I had to study for my degree. So secretly from my parents, I started looking at universities in the United States to be able to combine studies and golf. But I did it all horrible, super late, all the applications were closed so I signed up for West Virginia to study Sociology and at first I was happy, but I went from seeing deer out the window to seeing snow, snow and more snow; it was depressing. A friend helped me change and I went to Charleston, the entrance was not as easy as it seems, they had me a long time without being able to play. I fought to get into the teams and I got it”. And so he achieved two victories, in the Charleston Shootout and the Coca-Cola Wofford Invitational defending the colors of the "Buccaneers".

“I signed up for West Virginia to study Sociology and was happy at first, but I went from seeing deer out the window to seeing snow, snow and more snow; it was depressing"

If his teammates at that time looked directly at the Challenge Tour, he launched himself and while still an amateur he got the card to play the PGA Tour Latin America, where he was competing for two years. In 2015 he embarked on the Asian adventure, but his projection was cut short by injury. “I tore my thumb collateral ligament in 2015 in Bangladesh, playing with Pigem; My club got stuck in the rough, I hit it hard and didn't realize I was injured. I kept playing but on the next shot I couldn't catch the club. I went to the physio and he told me that I had a sprain and I had to stop playing for a month. They did a thousand tests, MRIs, I saw several doctors and the funny thing is that it only hurt playing golf, so in February 2016 they operated on me. Doing rehabilitation I broke it again. Nacho Elvira told me about a doctor from Santander, Doctor Piñal, he did an MRI and I had to have surgery a second time. That's when I doubted if I would have to stop playing, but I like to compete too much to stop.

“I tore the collateral ligament of my thumb in 2015 in Bangladesh and I began to doubt whether I had to stop playing”

Although he tells it with humor, it is not easy to maintain it when everything is going through your head: “I didn't even know if I was going to recover, so I considered going back to the United States to do a master's degree and I even talked to my coach at the University and I started looking at sites. It was a difficult year and a half, I wanted to play but I couldn't and I saw that I had to do something. In this time I have had more breakfast at Vips than in my entire life and I have seen all the Netflix series. I am nothing of Game of Thrones, but nevertheless I loved Breaking Bad. It was a moment in which I doubted if I could play again, if I could make a living from golf or if I could grow as a player”.

"During this time I have had more breakfast at Vips than in my entire life and I have watched all the series on Netflix"

His physical recovery was accompanied by a change in mentality, in his way of facing life, which he openly explains: “Before, golf conditioned my way of life much more. If he played well he was happy; if he played badly, he was sad, simple as that. Now I have learned to put the game on one side and life on the other. I admit that once I saw some images of myself playing at that time when I was suffering on the pitch and I thought: 'You look like an asshole!!'. Now I'd rather hit 100 shots on the course than not be able to play.

"Once I saw some images of me playing at that time when I was suffering on the pitch and I thought: 'You look like an asshole!!'"

“Last year I played better than ever knowing I wasn't hitting as well. Technically I'm much better, but on the field I haven't performed one hundred percent. When you come from being unemployed for a good season and you see the situation from the outside, you ask yourself things. While you're playing you're in a bubble and it's hard to see. Players have a lot of ego and it's difficult to accept advice from outside people, we tend to be very protective of the technique that has gotten us to where we are as players and if they say something to you, even if it's with the best will, you think "how does this tell me?" let him do this, if I'm better than him." I think it's human to admit it. I'm not saying that I don't have fun on the field, but it's more of a fight with yourself that you have to take in the best possible way. If you do twelve under par, of course you have fun, but when that is not the norm, it is not funny at all”.

“Now I feel like I enjoy life. Before my whole life was golf and that consumes you »

And he continues: “Before, I finished playing and I wasn't able to disconnect. I would run to the statistics, to see golf, my marks... Now, as a result of my injury, I finish playing, I put down the clubs and relax, disconnect and limit myself to doing what is in my power at that moment. Now I feel that I enjoy life. Before my whole life was golf and that consumes you. I was very tense. Every day I had a battle for five hours of birdie, bogey… I melted! Now I can give the feeling of being an idiot and I'm not, but I see everything in a different way. I have come to the conclusion that there is a part of the game that I cannot control, golf is more about assuming that the ball will go in or not, it is not an exact science. I have been very hard on myself, I have always spoken very badly to myself and my main improvement is there. My body language has gone from being pissed off all day to having a good time.”

“I have been very hard on myself, I have always spoken very badly to myself and my main improvement is there”

There are many other things besides golf. “I try to watch other things on TV, I love American football and I have a fantasy team that drives me crazy. I am a Real Madrid fan but with what I see, football is more and more the same to me. I remember a tournament that coincided with Sevilla-Liverpool, we were in the same hotel and when 30 players arrived on a bus there were about a thousand people waiting there and they thought it was us. It's amazing what moves soccer, I understand that for all these things, a soccer player can seem like an idiot for living in that imaginary world”.

"It's amazing what moves football, I understand that a player can seem like an idiot for living in that imaginary world"

Her mind is always open. “The injury has made me see many other things. For example, who are your real friends. I love eating, trying everything, I'm passionate about Che Gun's Korean cuisine and if I regret one thing, it's not having eaten bugs in Thailand, I have to go back if only to try them! I'm not superstitious, but I have been maniacal. There was a time when when kicking, he left his glove on top of the iron; if he kicked well, he would leave it on top of it again; if not, it was rotating ”.

«Now it seems that if you don't have a physical trainer, coach, physio, psychologist, manager... you won't get anywhere»

From his perspective, an environment is being built around the players in which the game sometimes takes a backseat: “This is a very long race and a lot of robot is being designed. Now it seems that if you don't have a physical trainer, coach, physio, psychologist, manager... you won't get anywhere. However, I think that you won't really get there if you don't have a level, no matter how much equipment you have, because the manager doesn't hit the ball, the psychologist doesn't know what your body feels like with a bad shot and your sensations are impossible to describe. I'm not saying they don't help, all help is good, but the most important thing is what happens on the pitch, the result”.

“Today you become a professional and it is difficult, luckily we have the Gambit that has opened many doors for me for being third in its ranking”

He doesn't mince words when talking about the current situation of golf: “Golf is becoming more and more globalized. Before, the Americans played in their circuits in America and the Europeans here. Now people are not afraid to go anywhere and that makes everything more difficult. In Spain, what has happened is very complicated. Before you became a professional and there was a circuit to shoot you and it worked. Now you become a professional and it is difficult, luckily we have the Gambit that has opened many doors for me for being third in its ranking. Today you have to move much more and not set limits, it is difficult to make a long-term calendar. In the end the key is obvious, you have to fight to be a better player”.

“I think that with Rahm it will be the same as with Fernando Alonso, I don't think people were so interested in Formula 1 before”

Players who inspire him, especially Seve, who “wasn't lucky enough to see him play but when I see his videos, it blows my mind. I really like Olazábal and of course Sergio, but my idol has always been Tiger. It was pure domination, he put himself on the board and people lost more than he won. And the Rahm phenomenon is the bomb, when a 16-year-old guy beats the 21-year-olds with such certainty, you know something good is coming. I think that with Rahm it will be the same as with Fernando Alonso, that I don't think people were so interested in Formula 1 before. Or I myself never thought of watching badminton before, and look now…”.

His best moments are released with poise and conviction: “when I win, there is no doubt about it. Coincidentally, it's when you have the best time –she answers ironically-. When I won in Italy my friend Alfonso came with me as a caddy and we had a great time, we took the opportunity to visit the city. I remember when I was playing the final with Alfredo and Chino, I was playing well and from the middle of the fairway I hit a socket that seemed so ridiculous that it made me laugh; the three of us ended up crying with laughter all over the field”.

“To my caddy, sometimes a good joke is better than a good club decision”

Shortly he will start a new season on the Challenge Tour with a different physique, no injuries and above all with a different mentality. “The key is to play better, there is no other; I always end the year questioning everything, but the only conclusion is that you have to work and work to get where you have to be, which is the European Tour. I don't ask too much of my caddy, I don't ask him for objectives or that he decide for me, just that he get along with me. I am difficult, he has to take me relaxed and that is complicated, sometimes a good joke is better than a good stick decision. Everything will be better. Now I start a new season, a new stage, I am very lucky that the Federations have trusted me, and we hope that everything goes well”.

“Against the current. I want to feel again, I go out and look for you, I can't wait and I get scared, I look for you again. The Song of the Fool should be dedicated to a girl. Jacobo Pastor, golf.