Fernandez-Castano reflects on Shanghai surprise

Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano described his victory in the BMW Asian Open as “unbelievable”, adding the last two years have been the most eventful of his young life.

Fernandez-Castano, who defeated Swedish star Henrik Stenson in a play-off at the Tomson Golf Club, admitted his life had taken a dramatic turn since deciding to turn professional when he was in his third year of university.

The Spaniard has made other changes too. He has bought a house in Madrid, which he should pay off now that he has a winner’s cheque for €243,000.

And he plans to ask his girlfriend of eight years to marry him as soon as he returns to Spain next week in preparation for his own national open – the Andalucia Open de Espana Valle Romano.

“The last two years have been a really important time of my life. When I finished my degree, I decided to give it a go as a pro. Everything went really fast,” said Fernandez-Castano.

“Just in my second tournament as a pro, I finished seventh. Then I got my tour card at my first attempt, which was really difficult.

“Then I had my victory at the KLM Open last year, which nobody expected, including me. And now I have won the BMW Open. It’s a dream come true winning on the European Tour again.”

Fernandez-Castano said nothing compares to having a good education and he was glad to have completed his studies.

“Golf is not like football or modelling where when you are 35, you are done. You can play for many years until you are 60 years old or more, so why rush it? You should have a back-up,” he said.

“The main reason why I went to university was because my parents wanted me to study. It is good to have a degree because you never know what will happen in the future. I decided to study business because I am good in numbers,” the 25-year-old said.

The numbers stacked up well for Fernandez-Castano in Shanghai as he reflected on his epic victory over Stenson, the pair having tied on seven-under-par 281 after 72 holes.

Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie was the highest-finishing Brit at joint third, while Englishmen Paul Casey and Simon Dyson were five under.