I plan to return to golf one day, but I don’t know when that day will be.

Tiger Woods

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This is a two-phase interview.

My first meeting with Roger Montañola (37) occurred in mid-June. We met at the Vallromanes Golf Club, a venue that Montañola frequents. The man is busy: a few days before, he has been designated as head of the list by the PDeCAT for the general elections to be held a month later, on July 23.

Your cell phone boils.

Montañola pretends to ignore the messages, but duty obliges. Out of the corner of her eye, she watches what is happening on the screen. Sometimes she has to compromise. You receive messages of encouragement and hope, “count on me,” “let’s see if we can get this through,” “call me if you need it.”

Roger Montañola does not know it completely, but he is going to find himself swimming against the current. His political approach, absolutely moderate, places him right at the intersection between two opposite poles. The battle is fought in another scenario, at another level.

Many think like him.

Few will give him effective support, the vote.

A while ago, Roger Montañola was a 0 handicap. He played golf two or three times a week, even more. He was on the border of professionalism. He did not take the step: when he was around thirty, he retreated a few meters.

–He had had some bad results. I realized that it was not as good as it should be. I saw myself at the crossroads. Either I dedicated myself exclusively to golf, as some friends who went to the United States to become professional had done, or I stopped competing.

–What happened to your friends?

–They managed to become professional; neither had a notable career in golf.

–And what were you missing?

–Twenty centimeters tall. And more dedication. I love golf, just like I love playing the piano, but I wouldn’t be happy if I had focused on one or the other.

–They say that golf is for the rich.

–In our country, he lives stigmatized. There are other more expensive sports. In the United States there are 30 million members. I think golf is something very normal that very normal people do. Now there are no public fields in Catalonia, but there were. In the rest of Spain there are quite a few, and in England there is one in every town. Water…? Golf feeds on wastewater that would surely be lost.

Sometimes, some club members interrupt us. They come with the clubs and the cart, they greet Montañola, who offers them his hand or a hug, “let’s play one of these days,” “come on, let’s play.”

We closed the talk talking about politics. There are 37 days left until the elections:

–I have played three of the 18 holes and I have birdied 1, 2 and 3. There are fifteen holes left and I have already made myself known. There was a wide margin of society that had been orphaned. I am very clear about how I have to play.

In the following weeks, Montañola immersed himself in the campaign. His voice and his face abound on television, radio and newspapers.

–If it were a golf tournament, it would be the tournament that I approach most prepared because I have defended the same ideas for a long time.

However, he does not achieve the deputy record.

–It is an unmitigated defeat –he admits after the votes on July 23.

He abandons politics and refocuses on private business, on the Busquets consultancy

(…)

The second meeting takes place this week, on Thursday, at Crep Nova in Urgell, a stone’s throw from his house.

Montañola is more relaxed, his cell phone barely interrupts us, he barely looks at his watch, he no longer wants to know about politics, “I don’t want political positions, this was a flash,” he tells me.

–Do you feel disappointed?

–I put on the table an idea that I think many share, but they do not vote for it. Could it be that you didn’t like the candidate? Or that I had very little time to prepare? Or lack of financing? Don’t know. I accept reality. This is like when you are from Sant Andreu in football: on match day, Barça-Madrid is also played. What are you doing? You are still from Sant Andreu, but you are going to Camp Nou. This is part of the reason we don’t go out. Also, I’m not Tiger Woods. Neither in golf nor in politics. So it is better not to deceive yourself or look for miracles. Miracles are for Obama, Djokovic or Nadal. If I hurry, for Pedro Sánchez.