The afternoon session at the ACCIONA Open de España presented by Madrid was much more benign than the forecasters had us believe, and many of the players that had been fearing the worst for two days were able to fill their boots.
If there is one player, though, who will leave Club de Campo today wearing a huge smile, it is the Andalusian Angel Hidalgo, who will sleep on a lead on the DP World Tour for the first time in his career. He topped the leaderboard with a convincing -6 and a two-shot lead over the chasing pack, despite not enjoying the finish he had hoped for.
“It’s a strange feeling leading at a tournament like this, but incredible. It was one of those days when everything was going in the hole, really fun”.
It was a practically flawless round, with six birdies, the eagle on the 4th after an incredible second that left him a six-foot putt and two bogies at the end, one on the 16th after a bad second shot from the middle of the fairway, and another on the 17th after his ball ended up behind a tree. “That shot on 16 is the only one I regret from today, above all because I didn’t commit to it and I paid for it with a visit to the bunker, but everything else was memorable”.
It was a stunning round in itself, but the stretch from the 7th to the 11th, which included four birdies, was a masterclass. “It is, without a doubt, one of the best three rounds of my life, because on days like this, when everything goes to plan, all you can do is enjoy it, and that’s what I did as I was seeing my name at the top of the leaderboards”.
The fans in Madrid witnessed the A-game of a unique player, a player whose golf contains plenty of magic and it was a joy to watch him hunt down every single one of the 18 flags around the course. He has an aggressive swing and a new look that is reminiscent of the great Rickie Fowler, something of a favourite among the young fans: “I don’t know if it’s the look, the game or that I was holing everything today, but it’s honestly a joy to play with so many people cheering you on whatever you do”.
Hidalgo has two top-10 finishes to his name this season and he arrives in Madrid with his card for 2025 already in the pocket. However, as the end of the season draws near, he will have one eye on the final in Dubai, for which the 50 best players of the year qualify. The Spaniard currently sits at number 88. It’s not the same pressure as having to save your card, but it is pressure all the same: “It’s completely different, if I make the playoffs it’s a bonus and the other is just distressing. But there’s a long way to go for that, at the moment the three days here will be very long and there are a lot of great players behind me, so hopefully we’re still talking about this on Sunday”.
As for the rest of the Spanish contingent, the afternoon was not as fruitful as the morning, besides Jon Rahm the best late finishes came from Alfredo Garcia Heredia, with -1, who ended his round with a fantastic birdie on the 18th in front of the home fans, and Joe Moscatel, who joined the field at the last minute and decided to play here instead of at a Challenge event, where he is in the thick of the fight for the order of merit.
After the first day of the ACCIONA Open de España, the home players are looking good, with five in the Top 10 and 10 more currently inside the cut line, which currently sits at +2. The wind is expected to ease slightly tomorrow, which could mean the Armada will give their fans even more reason to cheer.
