The Questions of Quiros

As far as sweeping generalisations go, “Spanish golfers are colourful characters”, is a good one. Alvaro Quiros (pictured) is no exception and I had to pass on this excerpt from a story on the PGA Tour website detailing a Sunday before the Masters. Quiros qualified to play in the Masters by being the 25th best golfer in the world and it’s hard not to like him from this account.

He saw Augusta for the first time after playing nine holes with Luke Donald. In fact he’d never even seen it on TV:

Quiros, whose reputation as a big hitter is growing quickly, is the son of a gardener from the famed “Costa Del Sol” just down the road from Valderrama. They didn’t have enough money to pay for the satellite feed required to watch the Masters, so his only visual of the Augusta National came from a DVD on Seve Ballesteros. Those highlights only featured the 15th, 16th and 18th holes.

Quiros had just settled into a patio chair to order lunch when Donald mentioned that the Spaniard hit wedge into the 445-yard first hole, with the first 300 yards uphill.

So what did he think of the front nine?

“Too much,” Quiros said. “Some of the shots? Impossible.”

Donald grinned, having been there before. The Englishman has moderate length, at best, yet tied for third in 2005. Quiros needs a crash course on Augusta National, and he plans to play Monday with two-time winner Jose Maria Olazabal and Miguel Angel Jimenez.

Quiros also needs experience ordering food.

“Are the salads big?” he asked. The waiter concurred, and Quiros settled on a Caesar chicken salad.

But he wasn’t finished.

“I have to asked another question. What about the all-beef hot dog? Is that big?” he said. And when the waiter gave that a thumbs-up, Quiros ordered them both.